YANGON, Myanmar – Myanmar authorities have tightened security at a town in western Rakhine state after the boat people remaining at a camp in Maungtaw Township fled last week, according to officials Monday.
An official from Rakhine’s immigration department who wished to remain unnamed as he was not authorized to speak to media told Anadolu Agency that 28 people, who authorities say are from neighboring Bangladesh, escaped the temporary camp.
“All 28 boat people including women and children fled the camp last week. We informed Bangladesh authorities about it,” he said by phone.
He added that authorities do not know whether the escapees were still in Myanmar or had crossed the border.
“They frequently asked us to send them back to their country as they don’t want to be here anymore, but the Bangladesh authority is working slowly,” he said.
Myanmar has already repatriated 777 people to the neighboring country after Bangladeshi officials verified their citizenship.
They were among 1,046 people rescued at sea and from an island in southern Myanmar in May amid a crisis that saw thousands of Bangladeshi and Muslim Rohingya – an ethnicity Myanmar does not officially recognize — abandoned by people smugglers. (Courtesy of Fulton News)
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