Ten Rohingyas arrested in Tripura, India

Saturday, 05 March 2011

Chittagong, Bangladesh: Police have arrested ten Rohingya in Agartala, the capital of the Indian State of Tripura, on March 3. They were arrested at a railway station, according to bdnews24.com.

The Rohingya originally entered Bangladesh through Teknaf of Cox's Bazaar and then crossed over to Tripura through the Sonamura border near Comilla.

The arrested people have been identified as the members of two families and they had crossed the border from Bangladesh and intended to go to Delhi or Mumbai in search of work, a police official said.

One of the arrestees, Hasan Ali, said, “The Rohingya are denied even the most basic rights and are not considered citizens of Burma. They are not allowed to travel from one village to another without the state's permission. They are denied government jobs despite having the required qualifications, and they are not even allowed to marry without the permission of the authorities."

The Rohingya were fleeing Burma to avoid the atrocities of the military junta.

"All 10, including three Burmese women, who entered Tripura without proper documents, were brought before a local court in the afternoon. They have been sent to jail for 14 days," said public prosecutor Tapan Saha.

Nearly 1.5 million Rohingya have left Arakan State, Burma, since before independence. Some now work in the Middle East, while others remain in various countries such as Bangladesh, Thailand, and Malaysia.

Source: Kaladan Press Network.
Link: http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3072:ten-rohingyas-arrested-in-tripura-india.