COX'S BAZAR, Dec 27: Hundreds of Rohingya women are being trafficked from the district, according to field sources.
The members of armed forces arrested a Rohingya teenage girl and a hotel employee searching a vehicle at T&T area in Ukhia Upazila of the district. Both the arrestees introduced themselves as Bangladeshi nationals but the real fact came out after interrogation.
The hotel employee Mohammad Anwar, 40, was bringing the Rohingya girl to a hotel for unsocial activities.
Later, they were produced before the mobile court of Ukhia Upazila Nirbahi Officer Mohammad Nikaruzzaman Chowdhury who handed over the Rohingya girl to her guardians and sent the employee to 15-day jail.
On December 18, the member of armed forces detained a Rohingya teenager named Parveen, 13, when she was being trafficked from Kutupalang.
At that time, Hasina Begum, 35, was arrested for her alleged involvement in trafficking. She was sent to jail through court order.
According to the administration, the old Rohingya woman Hasina is the member of a children and women trafficking gang who trafficked several children and women earlier.
On December 1 last, a Rohingya teenage girl named Khaleda Begum, 17, was rescued while being trafficked from Balukhali-1 Rohingya camp. Two persons- Mufti Rafiqul Islam, 35, of Ashashuni Upazila in Satkhira District and Mawlana Mohammad Harunur Rashid, 37, of Betbunia were arrested for their alleged involvement in trafficking Khaleda. The girl was handed over to her parents while Rafiqul Islam and Harunur Rashid were sent to jail.
Ayesha Khatun, 30, was arrested by the members of Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB) from Panchbibi frontier of Joypurhat District while being trafficked to India on November 30. Besides, police arrested Setara Begum, 15, Zaheda Begum, 16, and Shafiqa, 6, from a house in Demra of Dhaka. The traffickers brought them here from Balukhkali and Jamtali camps in Cox's Bazar for trafficking to Malaysia. The brokers were arrested at that time and the children and the women were sent back to Ukhia camp.
Earlier in the last week, two Rohingya girls Sitara Begum and Najiba Begum were detained with Bangladeshi passport. Their passports were seized and cancelled. They not only made Bangladeshi passport but also completed all formalities to go to Saudi Arabia. Later, they were sent back to Ukhia camp.
Hundreds of children and women were recovered from different areas of the country in the last four months. Nearly thousand male and female were detained in this connection.
The traffickers have been trafficking a large number of children, women and men applying different tricks every day.
Seeking anonymity, some physicians of Ukhia Health Complex said the people of the country are in great health risk for the Rohingya influx in Ukhia and Teknaf.
The Rohingyas are already infected with different diseases like HIV/AIDS, diphtheria, tuberculosis, gonorrhoea, and syphilis.
Cox's Bazar is a tourist area where local and international tourists are coming every moment. So it is very shocking news that the Rohigya women have been doing prostitution business in the hotels, motels and guest houses there.
Many Rohingya women have been detected with HIV. It is hard to say how many women are bearing the disease. If their movement and location are not restricted, the whole country will fall in a great health risk, they said.
At a meeting in Ukhia recently, Ukhia Upazila Nirbahi Officer Mohammad Nikaruzzaman said that the detained Rohingyas were sent back and many of them are being trafficked showing fake identity cards, medical certificates and fake documents.
The speakers said many NGO employees are involved in Rohingya trafficking.
They also demanded bringing under vigilance the NGO vehicles that use black glasses.
