By: Camp Correspondent
April 11, 2025 | Maungdaw-Buthidaung Border Region
In a disturbing reflection of the compounded risks facing Rohingya refugees, eleven individuals who were intercepted by Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and forcibly returned to Myanmar have reportedly been detained again by the Arakan Army (AA) and released only after paying 300,000 Kyats each, local sources confirm.
The group, comprising 16 Rohingya refugees, was trafficked across the Naf River by a human smuggling network allegedly connected to AA elements. They had departed from Kudaung village in Maungdaw Township in the early hours of April 8, and each person was reportedly charged 600,000 Kyats for the journey by engine boat.
While attempting to cross into a Rohingya refugee camp via Nagkhong Shorri, an unregulated crossing area along the Bangladesh border, 11 out of the 16 were apprehended by the BGB. The other five successfully reached a camp and avoided detention.
Caught Between Two Sides
The following day, April 9, the 11 detained individuals were returned by the BGB to the Myanmar side, as part of an informal push-back practice, which has been widely criticized by rights groups for exposing refugees to further persecution.
Upon crossing back, they were stopped at the Paungza Chaung Wa checkpoint by AA forces, who reportedly arrested them again. According to a relative of one of the returnees, the AA demanded 300,000 Kyats per person for their release.
“They had already lost everything. Now they had to pay again just to avoid imprisonment or worse,” said a family member in touch with the victims.
The 11 returnees were all from the Maungdaw region, while the five who evaded arrest are reportedly from Buthidaung Township—an area where forced displacement, looting, and village burnings have recently surged under AA control.
Double Victimization
This case illustrates the double vulnerability Rohingya face: caught between the tightening border policies of Bangladesh and the coercive control of armed actors like the Arakan Army in Rakhine State.
Human rights advocates warn that such incidents are not isolated. In recent months, trafficking groups operating with informal ties to armed factions have been emboldened by weakened enforcement and the desperation of stateless refugees seeking safety, food, or family reunification.
“The trafficking routes are now entangled with political violence. Rohingya are being extorted from both sides—first by traffickers, then by armed groups,” said a humanitarian worker in Cox’s Bazar, who asked not to be named.
A Crisis Without Protection
The lack of formal protection mechanisms for Rohingya fleeing Myanmar leaves them exposed to arbitrary arrests, ransom demands, and stateless limbo. Informal repatriation by Bangladeshi forces, particularly without legal screening, has also raised ethical and legal questions under international refugee law.
No comment has yet been issued by either the BGB or the Myanmar-based AA regarding the incident.
