Local administration is planning to evacuate members of 70 families in Ghumdhum union – along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border – under Nai khongchhari upazila of Bandarban, following continuous firings and mortar shelling near Tombru border over the last one month, reports UNB.
Naikhongchhari Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Salma Ferdous said that there are about 70 Bangladeshi families living within 300 to 500 yards of the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.
“Considering the overall situation along the border and safety of the locals, we plan to evacuate them,” she said.
Dil Mohammad Bhutto, member of Ward No. 2 of Ghumdhum Union, said that they heard sounds of gunshots and explosions till Saturday morning.
Kofil Uddin, a resident of Ghumdhum, said many locals are leaving the border area on their own, fearing that the firing may start again at any moment.
Around 35 Bangladeshi families have already moved to their relatives’ houses in Ukhiya's Balukhali, Ratapalong, Sonarpara, Palongkhali, Hoikang area of Teknaf upazila, under Cox’s Bazar.
Dil Mohammad, a Rohingya leader, who took shelter at the Zero Point of Ghumdhum border, said that 4,200 Rohingyas took shelter at the Ghumdhum border.
They have been anxious since taking shelter at this point in 2017.
Myanmar repeatedly tried to evict the Rohingyas from the zero point, he added.
“The Rohingyas are very frightened now. But they are still staying at zero point. They don't know what to do,” he said.
However, Additional Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Shamsud Douza told UNB that there is no scope for the Commissioner to do anything for the people or groups at zero point of the border.
Many are cooperating locally and international organisations working along the border are engaged in providing emergency services.
“If the Rohingyas take shelter outside the zero point and in various camps in Ukhiya, it is possible to help them in various ways,” he added.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
