DAHAKA
\nAn elite Bangladesh police unit is engaged in the rampant extortion, harassment and wrongful arrests of the Rohingya refugees it has been tasked with protecting, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.
\nThe Armed Police Battalion (APBn) operates in camps housing nearly one million members of the stateless minority, most of whom fled neighbouring Myanmar after a military crackdown that is now the subject of a UN genocide investigation.
\nBut refugees and humanitarian workers told the New York-based watchdog that safety had deteriorated after the unit took charge of camp security in 2020, with some Rohingya telling AFP abuses had become \u201ca regular occurrence\u201d.
\n\u201cAbuses by police in the Cox\u2019s Bazar camps have left Rohingya refugees suffering at the hands of the very forces who are supposed to protect them,\u201d said HRW Asia researcher Shayna Bauchner.
\nThe rights group said it had spoken to dozens of Rohingya refugees living in the sprawling and overcrowded camp network in the country\u2019s southeast, documenting at least 16 cases of serious abuse by APBn officers.
\nPolice demanded hefty bribes of refugees under threat of arrest, HRW\u2019s report said, adding that families were often forced to sell gold jewellery or borrow money to free unjustly detained relatives.
\nBauchner called on authorities to investigate the claims and hold responsible officers to account. Battalion commander Syed Harunor Rashid said the report was \u201cquestionable\u201d. \u201cCriminals are telling them false facts, and (Human Rights Watch) are reporting them. This is like giving comfort to criminals,\u201d he told AFP, adding that the unit would investigate if it \u201creceives specific complaints\u201d.
\nPolice acknowledge that violence has spiked in the camps, which are home to armed groups and are used as staging posts for regional drug trafficking networks.
\nAt least 20 refugees, including top community leaders, were murdered by armed groups last year as part of a turf war in the settlements.
\nSeveral Rohingya refugees told AFP that police abuses were \u201crampant\u201d. \u201cA few days ago I was returning to the camp with my brother\u2019s medical report from a hospital. APBn officers stopped me at the checkpoint, interrogated me and slapped me,\u201d said Ali Jaker, 20.
\nJaker said they stole the equivalent of $50 dollars from him.
\n\u201cThen they took my mobile phone. They threatened to take action against me if I shared the story with anyone,\u201d he added.
\nSitara Bibi, 45, said police extortion was \u201ca regular occurrence\u201d.
\n\u201cI had to pay 3,000 taka ($30) to them during my son\u2019s marriage. If we didn\u2019t pay them, the police would file a drug smuggling case against my son,\u201d she added.
\nOne Rohingya civic leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that refugees were forced to pay police to travel between camps or to gain entrance to camps late at night.
\n\u201cIf anyone protests these abuses, he is arrested,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DAHAKA An elite Bangladesh police unit is engaged in the rampant extortion, harassment and wrongful arrests of the Rohingya refugees it has been tasked with protecting, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. The Armed Police Battalion (APBn) operates in camps housing nearly one million members of the stateless minority, most of whom fled neighbouring Myanmar after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308113,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-308075","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n