Bangladesh police accused of abusing Rohingya refugees

DW

Arafatul Islam
16 August 2023

Rights groups say the Armed Police Battalion is committing arbitrary arrests, torture and harassment of Rohingya refugees living in precarious conditions in Cox's Bazar's overcrowded settlements. 

The Armed Police Battalion is a specialized combat unit of the Bangladesh police force

 

Rohingya people living in refugee camps in the Bangladeshi city of Cox's Bazar are being arbitrarily detained, beaten and tortured by members of the Armed Police Battalion (APBn) — a specialized combat unit of the Bangladesh police force — revealed an investigation by the human rights NGO Fortify Rights

."Bangladesh police beat Rohingya refugees from Myanmar with batons and choked and used other torture methods against them to extort payments, sometimes amounting to the equivalent of thousands of US dollars," the group said last week.

The APBn has been responsible for maintaining security in the refugee camps since July 2020. The force has since faced repeated accusations of human rights abuses against the Rohingya.

Matthew Smith, chief executive officer of Fortify Rights, said that the police are "using Rohingya refugees like human ATMs by inflicting severe physical and mental pain to demand corrupt payments."

Earlier this year, another international organization, Human Rights Watch (HRW), also accused APBn of committing extortion, arbitrary arrests, and harassment of Rohingya refugees.

Both Fortify Rights and HRW said their reports were based on interviews with Rohingyas living in the camps.

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