Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh: Dozens of Rohingya refugees floated into Bangladesh on Wednesday on a raft fashioned from plastic jerrycans, as the persecuted Muslim minority continue to flee violence in Myanmar in droves, officials said.
Bangladesh border guards spotted the makeshift raft overloaded with more than 50 passengers as it drifted toward the coastal village of Shah Porir Dwip village.
Local border guard commander S M Ariful Islam said the 52 refugees tied plastic jerrycans together to float across the Naf River separating the two countries. Islam said those fleeing ethnic violence in Myanmar were still desperate enough to make the dangerous crossing, with other daring escapes recorded in recent days.
At least 16 Rohingya refugees were found floating across the same river in a plastic drum sawn in half, local police said.
“A lot of them arrived today on rafts made from plastic jerrycans,” local community policeman Abdul Jabbar said on Tuesday.
“It was a dangerous attempt to cross the Naf on such a flimsy device. It could easily have gone wrong, causing deaths.”
Many families stuck on the bank were unable to pay the exorbitant fees charged by boatman and were resorting to increasingly desperate measures to escape. — AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
