A Rohingya child was shot and wounded in Bandarban by Myanmar’s Border Guard Police (BGP) in no man's land along the Naikhyangchhari border on Thursday.
The injured 11-year-old boy Ansar Ullah, son of Jamir Uddin, is undergoing treatment at a Cox’s Bazar hospital after the firings at the zero line between Myanmar’s Tambru and Bangladesh’s Konarpara.
Over 4,000 Rohingyas have been living in camps on the zero line since Aug 25 last year, when the military crackdown in Rakhine begun.
Naikhyangchhari Ghumdum police outpost’s Inspector Emon Chowdhury said the shooting took place around 4:30pm.
Konarpara camp leader Dil Mohammad claimed the BGP members also fired at the other Rohingyas in the camp. “Luckily, no one else was hurt. Panic has gripped everyone living here.”
Another Rohingya leader, Abdul Halim, also voiced concern for their safety. “The BGP men had shot several rounds at some of us, when Ansar, who fled Rakhine with his family around eight months ago, was shot.”
The incident happens hours after a meeting between Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) and BGP, when the Myanmar border forces assured of taking back the Rohingyas in no man’s land as soon as possible.