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Burma: arrest of suspected smugglers linked to the death of 13 Rohingyas

2022-12-21T05:11:30.347Z


Burmese police have arrested twelve people suspected of belonging to a gang involved in human trafficking and linked to...


Burmese police have arrested 12 people suspected of belonging to a gang involved in human trafficking and linked to the death of 13 Rohingyas found in a cistern, the junta announced.

A police raid in Hlegu (center), near Yangon, seized five vehicles and a fuel tank, used to smuggle migrants, the military said on Tuesday.

Some 19 Rohingyas present at the scene, awaiting the next stage of their dangerous journey, were also arrested and detained.

In all, 255 “Bengalais”, the pejorative term used in Burma to designate the Rohingyas, a Muslim minority victim of large-scale discrimination in the Buddhist-majority country, have passed into the hands of this gang, the statement said.

The junta did not specify what became of these people, who came from Rakhine State (west), or their destination.

The arrest of the suspected smugglers is linked to the death of thirteen Rohingyas whose bodies were found on the side of a road near Hlegu on December 5, according to the official source.

They were traveling in a fuel tank, a Rohingya source told AFP and local media.

Hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingyas fled a bloody crackdown by the Burmese army in 2017 to find refuge in camps in neighboring Bangladesh.

Read alsoBangladesh: the ordeal of the Rohingyas

A procedure against Burma, accused of genocide by The Gambia, is underway before the highest judicial body of the United Nations.

Although settled in the country for generations, the Rohingyas are still considered as intruders in Burma, of which they do not have the nationality, nor the same rights as the other inhabitants.

They run the risk of being arrested and prosecuted if they travel inside Rakhine state, or try to cross its borders, according to human rights groups.

Every year, hundreds of them attempt a perilous boat trip to Malaysia or Indonesia.

In early December, the junta announced that it had discovered 70 Rohingya hiding in a truck also carrying ginger, north of Yangon, after the vehicle plunged into a canal along the road.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-12-21

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