Dhaka: A Rohingya pastor and his 14-year-old daughter have been abducted from a Bangladesh refugee camp. In the last week of January, Pastor Taher and his daughter went missing from Kutupalong Camp No. 2 in Cox’s Bazar. Twenty-two Christian families were attacked in the same camp the previous night. After they were beaten, the assailants broke into the houses and took whatever they could get. Twelve Rohingya Christian refugees have been admitted to the hospital with injuries. A temporary Christian church and school are among those destroyed.
The affected family members have been shifted to the United Nations Transit Center. The UN police have lodged complaints with about 60 people responsible for the violence. According to reports from the Benar News Agency and Radio Asia, “the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), an armed militant group belonging to the Rohingya tribe, are behind the attack.” But an ARSA representative has denied the allegation, saying it undermines the credibility of their fight for Rohingya rights.
Roshida, the pastor’s wife, is concerned that her husband may have been killed. She said no one was able to provide any accurate information. She revealed to a human rights organization that her relatives told her that her daughter was forcibly converted to Islam. The attackers complained that the Bangladeshi police saw the violence as a common occurrence, not an attack on Christians.
A police officer at Cox’s Bazar also revealed that the victims had to go to the moon if they wanted protection. Following the genocide of Myanmar’s army in 2017, there are nearly 1,000 Muslim Rohingya among the 7 lakh Muslim Rohingya who have fled to Bangladesh. Even before that, Rohingya Christian refugees in Bangladesh have faced threats and attacks. There is a growing demand among refugees that Christian refugees should be protected and that the missing pastor and daughter will be found soon.
