In a report released on Tuesday, Human Rights Watch accused Bangladesh’s Armed Police Battalion of engaging in extortion, making arbitrary arrests at Rohingya camps, and harassing the community who was already subject to assault from armed groups and criminal gangs.
According to the report, donor states should urge Bangladeshi authorities to look into allegations of mistreatment against the Rohingya population, which is housed in several camps in Cox’s Bazar.
In July 2020, the Armed Police Battalion assumed control of the camps’ security.
Residents of the camps and aid workers said that the situation had gotten worse under the control of the APBn authorities as a result of an increase in both criminal activity and police mistreatment.
In October and November 2022, Human Rights Watch reportedly spoke with more than 40 Rohingyas and examined police files, establishing more than 16 incidences of serious mistreatment by APBn officials. 10 Rohingyas who were jailed in bogus cases for trafficking yaba or for crimes involving violence were among those who suffered mistreatment.
The report states that extortion was engaged in almost every case that Human Rights Watch looked at, either directly by APBn personnel or communicated through the camp community leaders.
According to the report, police typically requested Tk 10,000 to Tk 40,000 to prevent imprisonment and Tk 50,000 to Tk 100,000 to secure the release of a family member who had been held.
Sayed Hossein (pseudonym), 27, a citizen journalist and health volunteer for an international organization, claimed that APBn police detained him at his home on July 25, 2022, and took his laptop and flash drive.
He was informed that his arrest was because to his social media posts regarding an APBn officer abusing innocent Rohingyas.
According to the claim, the APBn forcibly photographed him with yaba tablets and took him to the adjacent Ukhiya police station when his family refused to pay Tk 50,000.
Many of the Rohingya casualties are teachers or work for nongovernmental organizations. Concerns about how APBn harassment affects their workers and operations have been expressed by humanitarian organizations.
In response to a rise in targeted killings by armed groups in the Rohingya camps, the APBn launched Operation Root Out in late October. Since the middle of 2022, the police have detained at least 900 Rohingyas.
According to the report, the three Rohingyas’ families who were detained as part of Operation Root Out said that the accusations against their loved ones were false.
“Rohingyas in the Cox’s Bazar camps are suffering at the hands of the very authorities that are supposed to protect them,” says the report. stated Shayna Bauchner, a Human Rights Watch researcher for Asia. Authorities in Bangladesh should look into claims of widespread extortion and unlawful imprisonment by members of the Armed Police Battalion right away and penalize those accountable.
Human Rights Watch recommended that the Bangladeshi government create and implement a security strategy that respects human rights while working with the Rohingya community to safeguard the camp’s inhabitants.
According to Human Rights Watch, in order to strengthen the training and oversight of APBn units operating in the camps, the authorities should communicate with refugees and humanitarian organizations. Each camp should assign and train non-APBn staff to take Rohingya complaints against police officers.
