Dozens of Rohingya flee India for Bangladesh: officials

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Dozens of Rohingya Muslims have crossed the border into Bangladesh from India in recent days, officials said on Tuesday, as New Delhi faces censure for deporting the persecuted minority to Myanmar.

Last week India handed a Rohingya family of five to Myanmar authorities, despite the army there being accused of genocide against the stateless group.

The forced return — the second in recent months — was criticised by the United Nations and rights groups who accused India of disregarding international law and sending the Rohingya to danger.

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India, which is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention, arrested 230 Rohingya in 2018 — the most in years as Hindu hardliners called for the displaced Muslims to be deported en masse.

Bangladesh border officials and police said dozens of Rohingya had been detained crossing from India in the past week. They were sent to refugee camps in the country’s south, where a million of the displaced Muslims live in hardship.

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The round-ups in India and fear of deportation to Myanmar had fueled the recent exodus, Bangladesh officials said.

“They told us they panicked after India started detaining Rohingya refugees and deporting them to Myanmar,” said Shahjahan Kabir, a police chief in the eastern Bangladeshi border town of Brahmanpara.