by RK Desk
- Online gambling pushes some Rohingya families deeper into debt
- BGB says three Rohingya men detained with weapons and explosives in Teknaf
- Rohingya teenager goes missing at Cox’s Bazar beach
- Call for ‘Rohingya Genocide Cell’ to preserve memories and evidence
- Rohingya camp waste-to-energy projects draw government attention
- What comes next
September 27, 2026
Several developments concerning Rohingya communities were reported in Bangladesh on Sunday, September 27, ranging from growing online gambling inside the refugee camps to the disappearance of a Rohingya teenager at Cox’s Bazar beach.
In Teknaf, Border Guard Bangladesh said it detained three Rohingya men while transporting weapons and explosives. In Cox’s Bazar, researchers called for a dedicated initiative to preserve Rohingya memories and evidence of genocide.
Here are the day’s major developments.
Online gambling pushes some Rohingya families deeper into debt
Online gambling is spreading inside the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar, adding another layer of financial and social pressure to a community already living with limited livelihood opportunities, according to a report published Sunday by bdnews24.com.
The report documented the experience of Jahedullah, a Rohingya refugee who said he initially entered online gambling with Tk 100,000. As his losses increased, he continued putting in money in an attempt to recover it.
He eventually lost Tk 750,000, sold his wife’s jewellery and borrowed another Tk 750,000, according to the report. His family later had to use borrowed money and savings to repay his debts.
The report also cited UNHCR’s Joint Protection Monitoring, which has identified online gambling, financial hardship and limited livelihood opportunities among protection concerns in the camps.
Between April and June, 470 protection incidents affecting 592 Rohingya were recorded, compared with 455 incidents affecting 832 people between January and March, according to the monitoring data cited by bdnews24.com. The incidents included killings, kidnappings, extortion, physical assaults, shootings and recruitment by armed groups.
The report also revisited the case of Nobi Hossain, who was found injured in Camp 4 on September 8 amid allegations that the incident was connected to kidnapping and gambling-related debt.
An Armed Police Battalion official told bdnews24.com that many reported kidnappings in the camps may be voluntary or staged and linked some cases to gambling debts. The claim has not been independently verified.
The wider picture, however, points to a growing problem among refugees who have few opportunities to earn a stable income while remaining confined to the camps.
BGB says three Rohingya men detained with weapons and explosives in Teknaf
Border Guard Bangladesh said it detained three Rohingya men during an operation in the Leda Bazar area of Hnila Union in Teknaf on Sunday morning.
According to BGB, its personnel stopped an easy-bike at around 10:30 am after receiving intelligence about a possible weapons consignment.
BGB said a subsequent search found two G-3 rifles, two locally made single-barrel guns, 42 rounds of ammunition, three tasers, six walkie-talkies, a magazine and four kilograms of explosive substances hidden inside potato sacks.
The easy-bike and several mobile phones were also seized.
BGB identified the three detained men as Mohammad Usman Belal, Mohammad Muslim and Mohammad Ansar Ali. Two were described as residents of Kutupalong Camp 1 and the other as a resident of Camp 26.
The border force alleged that the weapons were being transported for an armed group operating in the camps.
Rohingya Khobor could not independently verify the allegation, the ownership or intended destination of the seized materials. Information about any formal charges against the three men was not immediately available.
Rohingya teenager goes missing at Cox’s Bazar beach
A 17-year-old Rohingya teenager went missing after entering the sea at Cox’s Bazar beach on Sunday morning, according to multiple local news reports citing lifeguards.
The teenager, identified as Siddiq, worked at the Kolatoli branch of Al Gani Restaurant and lived in a Rohingya camp in Teknaf.
Lifeguard team leader Osman Gani told local media that three restaurant workers had entered the sea near Sea-Gull Point early in the morning. Siddiq went missing at around 6:30 am.
Lifeguards launched a search after receiving information about the incident.
Local reports also said another person who got into difficulty in the sea on Sunday morning was rescued and taken to hospital.
No confirmed information on Siddiq’s whereabouts was available in the reports reviewed by Rohingya Khobor.
Call for ‘Rohingya Genocide Cell’ to preserve memories and evidence
Researchers and academics have called for the establishment of a “Rohingya Genocide Cell” inside the refugee camps to preserve Rohingya memories, experiences and evidence related to the atrocities they faced in Myanmar.
Professor Imtiaz Ahmed made the proposal on Sunday during a research-policy dialogue titled “Genocide Diplomacy and the Rohingya: Justice, Recognition and the Politics of International Response” at the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner’s conference room in Cox’s Bazar, The Daily Star reported.
Ahmed argued that documenting and preserving Rohingya memories and evidence could help prevent the loss of important records of their experiences.
Participants also called for further research into the obstacles preventing Rohingya refugees from returning to their homeland.
The dialogue was organised by the Refugee and Migration Lab in collaboration with University College London, the University of Dhaka, the University of Chittagong and the University of South Wales, with funding from the British Academy.
Rohingya Khobor had earlier reported that the September 27 dialogue would examine justice, recognition and international responses to the Rohingya genocide. Sunday’s proposal for a dedicated genocide documentation initiative emerged from the event itself.
Rohingya camp waste-to-energy projects draw government attention
Bangladesh’s government is considering whether waste-to-energy initiatives being used in the Rohingya camps can be expanded to other parts of the country.
State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam visited waste-management projects in the Ukhiya camps on Saturday. Several Bangladeshi newspapers reported on the visit over the weekend, including a report published Sunday by Alokito Bangladesh.
During the visit, the state minister inspected projects involving waste management, electricity generation from plastic waste and the production of organic fertiliser.
At Camp 2 West, project officials said plastic collected from the camps is being processed to generate around 70 kilowatts of electricity.
The state minister said the government was examining how similar waste-to-resource initiatives could be used elsewhere in Bangladesh.
The projects are supported by international development funding and implemented through Bangladesh’s Department of Public Health Engineering.
For Rohingya communities, the projects are also part of the much larger challenge of managing waste, sanitation and environmental pressure in the densely populated refugee settlements.
What comes next
Several of Sunday’s developments require follow-up.
The search for Siddiq remained unresolved in the reports available Sunday. More information is also needed on the legal status of the three Rohingya men detained in Teknaf and on the investigation into the weapons and explosives BGB says it recovered.
The spread of online gambling deserves particular attention beyond Sunday’s headlines. With restricted movement, limited employment opportunities and prolonged displacement shaping everyday life in the camps, the experiences of Rohingya families themselves will be essential to understanding how gambling, debt and insecurity are affecting the community.
