The repatriation of at least 35 Bangladeshis imprisoned in Myanmar is still uncertain. Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent several letters to Myanmar authority in this regard but have received no response as yet.
However, relatives of those ill-fated people in the country said they were transferred from Rangoon prison to Buchidong prison in Maungdaw after their sentences expired. Prisoners are demanding to return home. In this regard, a human rights activist from Teknaf, Cox's Bazar, made a written request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh to bring them back.
Abdur Rahim, a human rights activist, said that 13 of the 35 prisoners have applied to the welfare wing of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with their names and national identity card numbers. The Ministry of External Affairs has also sent a letter to the Bangladesh High Commission in Rangoon, Myanmar informing them about the matter. But till now they have not come back.
Sources said at least 180 Bangladeshis left for Malaysia by trawlers from Teknaf in September last year. The trawler was intercepted by the Myanmar navy when it approached Thailand border. They were later arrested and imprisoned in a prison in Yangon.
A police station in Yangon filed a case against them for illegal entry. In that case, in April this year, they were acquitted and ordered to be sent back to Bangladesh. Meanwhile, they were then transferred from Yangon Prison to Buchidong Prison in Maungdaw Port, Arakan State, Myanmar, located on the opposite side of Teknaf in Bangladesh. Buchidong Prison is located about 200 kilometers northeast of Maungdaw Port.
Meanwhile, the field level workers of various human rights organizations working in Teknaf got to know the names and addresses of 35 Bangladeshis by talking to different people. What happened to the fate of the remaining 145 people, whether they are alive or not - no one could give any information about it.
At least 13 people were identified as Salamat Ullah, Mohammad Redwan, Mohammad Ibrahim, Syed Akbar, Md Nazrul Islam, Md Hamidul Haq, Mostaq Ahmed, Mahmudul Haq, Belal Uddin, Mohammad Sohail, Abdul Hakim, Sirajul Mostafa and Ridwanul Islam.
A close relative of one of these 13 named prisoners said, "My relative is incarcerated in a prison in Maungdu." Three months ago, he called someone from Teknaf on a mobile phone and gave the information. It was then that I found out that my relative could not go to Malaysia. He is being held in a Myanmar jail.
Mustafa Jamil Khan the director of the welfare wing of the Ministry of External Affairs sent a message to the head of the Bangladesh High Commission in Yangon, Myanmar, on October 4 and October 9, in three separate mails asking for the search for 35 people. The welfare wing of the Ministry of External Affairs has requested to find out about the jailed Bangladeshis and take necessary action in this regard.
Human rights activist Abdur Rahim said there is a class of broker syndicates in Teknaf who, with the help of the local administration, smuggle people to Thailand and Malaysia in illegal sea trawlers. The syndicate sent 180 people to Malaysia in a big trawler.
