Ukhiya, Bangladesh: The police from Ukhiya police station under Cox’s Bazaar district have started to arrest Rohingya refugees from Ukhiya-Cox’s Bazaar motorway following the locals’ attacks on the refugees on July 16, said a refugee.

On July 26, some unregistered refugees were arrested from Ukhiya while going to their work site by vehicles from the unofficial refugee camp for their survival.

The refugees in Kutupalong makeshift camp are living in small huts built with leaves and branches of trees and have mud walls. They are not recognized as refugees by the Bangladesh government. Likewise, the UNHCR is not accepting these people as refugees, and the reason is unknown. The refugees in the makeshift camp are not getting any support from any quarter. For their survival and support their family members by working outside the camp in rural areas, said another refugee.

They were arrested on their way to work and sent back to the refugee camp by the police after locals attacked the camp on July 16, said a committee member.

Now, approximately 40,000 unofficial refugees, including men, women and children, live in the makeshift Kutupalong camp.

A daily worker from Kutupalong makeshift camp told the Kaladan Press Network (KPN), “If we aren’t able to work for fear of police arrest and locals’ attack, how can we feed our children?”

He also said, “We can’t go to the mountain to collect firewood for fear of locals’ attack.”