January 10, 2017
Local miscreants looted relief materials from newly arrived refugees in the Leda camp of Bangladesh.
The relief materials were being distributed to the refuges staying in the house of Noor Ali in Leda camp by the UNHCR at around 10 am on Tuesday. They comprised of 25kg of rice, blankets and other essential items. As the goods were being distributed, scores of men from the adjoining villages came to the area and said the Rohingyas were not entitled to the aid unless the international community also agreed to help the people of Bangladesh.
As a result of the daylight robbery, the refuges were deprived of the relief.
The looters are local people from the adjoining Bangalee villages in the Leda area.
Relief materials meant for Rohingya refugees have long been looted by a syndicate comprising of local villagers who refuse to let aid in unless they are given a share. They say the Bangalee villagers in the area are also poor and in dire need of aid.
However much of the aid seized by the influentials end up in their homes and don’t reach the impoverished local populace.
Sympathy for the Rohingyas is high in Bangladesh but some influential local people in the Ukhiya and Teknaf regions have profited from the misery of Rohingyas by abetting human smuggling and even robbing from desperate refugees.
