Tripura: Rohingya refugees not a terror threat, says BGB official

AGARTALA, July 26, 2018: Additional director-general of Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) Md Zahid Hasan, said on Wednesday that there are no terror threats from the Rohingya refugees of Myanmar, who have taken shelter in adjoining Southeast Asian nations, including Bangladesh and India.

In a media conference in BSF sector headquarters in Shalbagaan, Hasan said Rohingya refugees are a security concern to Bangladesh. However, he said they posed socio-economic pressure but not terror threats.

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"We have taken all measures to control Rohingya movement within Bangla-desh. They are not allowed to go outside their camps there. We have our systems and established camps in place," Hasan said.

Recent media reports have allegedly revealed Isis infiltration among Rohingya refugees and subsequent terror threats from their migration to nearby countries.

BSF officials said terror threats from Rohingya refugees cannot be ruled out entirely. BSF inspector-general H.K. Lohia, who joined the media interaction along with two other BSF officials – inspector-general Laltendu Mohanty from Meghalaya Frontiers and inspector-general N.S. Jamwal from Cachar in Assam, said, "A huge number of Rohingya refugees has migrated to other countries. The possibility of terror threats cannot be ruled out entirely. However, no credible proof has been found so far against Rohingya refugees in connection with terror links."

The BSF and the BGB held a four-day inspector general-level border coordination conference here, which concluded on Tuesday.

The conference involved discussions on curbing cross-border crimes, including smuggling of drugs, arms and explosives, human trafficking and steps taken to develop better relation between the two border guards along the Indo-Bangla border in the Northeast. On border management issue, BGB officials said they discussed the issue of innocent killings of Bangladeshi nationals along the international border.

Earlier in April this year, 18 Rohingya refugees were arrested from Teliamura under Khowai district, 50km from here. Police officials said they came from Chittagong in Bangladesh and were en route to New Delhi when they were arrested.

Source: The Telegraph

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