DHAKA: Police rescued 13 young Rohingya women refugees, bound for the vice trade in Malaysia via India by suspected human traffickers.
Two men were also arrested by the Bangladeshi Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) when they intercepted the women at a house in Aftabnagar over the weekend, according to The Irrawaddy news portal.
The suspects were identified as Kabir Ahmed, 40, of Cox’s Bazar, and Mohammad Imran, 28, of the Teknaf sub-district.
Investigations revealed the women, aged between 18 and 22, were from the refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar and were to be sent to Malaysia where they would
be sold for up to RM25,000 per person.
RAB-3 operations officer ABM Faijul Islam said probes were underway and that the authorities were looking for others in connection with the case, which
has been handed over to the police.
Investigation officer Sub-Inspector Fewdous Alam said the victims appeared in the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan magistrate’s court on Tuesday.
They said they were brought here with the promise of lucrative jobs in the capital and elsewhere, he said.
“We are keeping them at
the Victim Support Centre here, but it has not been decided whether they will be sent back to the camps or not.”
RAB officials said the house where the women were kept
had been rented for the last
seven months. Falsified documents, such as fake birth certificates and passports, were recovered.
Based on their findings following the rescue and the arrests, investigators believed the women would be forced into vice.
“The women were taken from Cox’s Bazar and kept here
for weeks until their international travel documents were
ready.
“They would be taken to Kolkata by bus from here via the Benapole (border crossing) and then flown to Malaysia.
“They have been doing it for a long time,” said the RAB official, who declined to be named.
At least seven Rohingya women were flown to Malaysia via this route last month, and another five last week, he said.
He added that several “corrupt officials” were likely involved in the process of arranging passports to send “forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals” to a third country.
The Airport Armed Police Battalion had increased checks at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport here, making it difficult for Rohingya to leave the country by air.
Superintendent Alamgir Hossain of the Airport Armed Police said this was done not only by checking their documents but also by identifying those who appear suspicious.
He said this was done by talking to them, as well as identifying those behind their travel arrangements.