Since yesterday, 2 special police battalions – APBn 14 and APBn 16 will be in charge of duty inside the 34 refugee camps in Teknaf and Ukhia to ensure the security of Rohingyas. According to the officials, the Cox’s Bazar District police officials have already handed over the duties and left the camps. However, the responsibility of filing cases and investigation will be still under the jurisdiction of district police.
APBn (Armed Police Battalion) 14 will ensure security measures of the Ukhia camp while APBn 16 will take care of security measures of a portion of Ukhia and Teknaf camps.
Earlier in 2019, the Bangladesh government formed APBn 14 in 2018 and APBn 16 to ensure law and order of the district and security of Rohingya refugees. Consisting manpower of 1,176 including two superintendents of police rank officials were posted as the commanding officers of the battalions. APBn 16 will be in charge of security in 15 camps in Teknaf and Ukhia and APBn 14 will ensure the security of 19 camps in Ukhia. On average, 25 to 30 APBn members will be on duty in each camp.
The following information was confirmed by Mahbub Alam Talukder, refugee relief and repatriation commissioner (RRRC) to The Daily Star.
The Rohingya refugees in the camp are optimistic with the engagement of APB and hoping the new unit of the police will be able to effectively end all criminal activities in the camp and arrest all those who are terrorising the Rohingyas.
The Armed Police Battalion is a specialized unit of the Bangladesh Police. It is headquartered in Dhaka.
