They were arrested from Dum Dum Meah check-post by BDR Battalion No. 23, while proceeding to Cox's Bazaar from Teknaf in a microbus. They all belong to Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, according to officials.

They crossed the Burma-Bangladesh border from various Teknaf entry points, and were pushed back from Dum Dum Meah entry point to Burma by row boat, said Hossain from Teknaf.

Security has been tightened on the border over the last two months. The operation was led by Colonel Shawkat Imam of Bangladesh Rifles Battalion No.23.

"Most of us come to Bangladesh only for treatment as there are no facilities in our town for medical treatment," said an ill person who was pushed back to Burma. 

Some of them were identified as Abu Sayed (17), Md. Eakram (28), Yusuf (18), Abdul Gaffar (26), Md. Hussain (20), Md. Ismail (28), Md. Taher (16), Hamid Hussain (17), Abdu Rashid (39), Akram (28), Nurul Islam (28), Sayed Ahmed (30), and Md. Alam (28).