New Delhi:
Thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees have offered Eid prayer in Bangladesh today. The Rohingya community celebrated Eid amid escalated tensions in Bangladesh. Myanmar's Rakhine has forced scores of Rohingya- a stateless ethnic minority to seek refuge in Bangladesh.
In a five-year crisis, it is the deadliest incidents that have divided Rakhine along ethnic and religious lines, dislocated the Rohingya in vast numbers and piled up International condemnation on Myanmar's army and the government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
"I had everything at my home... but now I've become a refugee. There's nothing much to celebrate. Yet it is our duty to perform the Eid prayer," said 39-year-old Makbul Hossainwho made the dangerous crossing from Rakhine to the Bangladesh border town of Cox's Bazar last week.
Goats, sheep, and cows are slaughtered worldwide to celebrate the major Muslim festival of Eid-ul-Adha, which is known as the Feast of the Sacrifice.
"I used to sacrifice my own animals during Eid," said 60-year-old farmer Deen Mohammad. But he was forced to flee for his safety after the latest round of violence erupted late August when Rohingya militants warmed police posts, killing 15 officials and burning villages.
Also Read: Rakhine violence: 16 Rohingya, including children, drown fleeing Myanmar
According to the recent report of UNHCR, tens of thousands more people have crossed by boat and on foot into Bangladesh in the last 24 hours as they flee violence in Western Myanmar. Many people drowned as they attempt to cross the border river in makeshift boats.
Both Myanmar's security officials and insurgents from the Rohingya ethnic minority are blaming each other for the violence. The military said nearly 400 people, mostly insurgents have died in armed clashes.
The United Nations(UN) has also released data on the population of Rohingya in Bangladesh, according to that, nearly 60,000 Rohingyas have arrived in Bangladesh since the violence erupted on August 25.
According to the refugees who get shelter in Bangladeshi fishing village of Shah Porir Dwip, Myanmar's security officials exploded bombs and burned alive Rohingyas in Myanmar.
Human Rights Watch show has analyzed that hundred of buildings had been destroyed in at least 17 sites across Rakhine.
Ali Hossain, a deputy commissioner in Cox's Bazar, said Bangladesh was struggling to cope as "the flow of Rohingya refugees is continuing by boat and the land route."
Also Read| Myanmar government evacuates 4000 non-Muslims from Rakhine state
The Red Cross has sent teams to refugee camps, incoordination with the local Red Crescent Society, to "assess the refugees' requirements. The influx is scattered at different places. The task is challenging for us," said
The violence in Myanmar erupted on Aug. 25, when insurgents attacked Myanmar police and paramilitary posts in what they said was an effort to protect minority Rohingya. In response, the military started what it called "clearance operations" to wipe out the insurgents.
Advocates for the Rohingya, an oppressed Muslim minority in overwhelmingly Buddhist Myanmar, say security forces and vigilantes both have attacked and burned villages, shooting civilians and causing others to flee.
The government blames the insurgents for burning their own homes and killing Buddhists in Rakhine. Longstanding tension between the Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists erupted in bloody rioting in 2012, forcing more than 100,000 Rohingya into displacement camps, where many still live.
Bangladeshi police said Thursday that three boats carrying refugees had capsized in the Naf River, killing at least 26, including women and children, spokeswoman Misada Saif.
(With PTI Inputs)
