4 Rohingya women held in Kurigram

Police today detained five women including four Rohingas who tried to obtain Bangladeshi passport from Regional Passport Office (RPO) in Kurigram.

The Rohingya women are: Fatema, 26, daughter of Ashraf Ali; Mim, 25, daughter of Abdul Awal; Aleya Khatun, 26, daughter of Joynal Abedin; and Nuruka Akhtar, 25, daughter of Box Mia from Kutupalong Rohingya Camp in Cox’s Bazar where they have been living after fleeing persecution in Myanmar.

The other woman detained was identified as Arifa Khatun, 42, wife of Anisur Rahman of Ballabhpur village under Santoshpur union of Nageshwari upazila in the district, reports our Kurigram correspondent.

Arifa Khatun and the Rohingya women went to the passport office together this afternoon to complete passport forms for going to Malaysia. After talking to the women, the RPO officials suspected them and contacted local police and Kurigram Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Amin Al-Parvez, said Rowshan Kabir, inspector (Investigation) of Kurigram Police Station.

Police later detained them, the official said.

Arifa Khatun, who has been working as a broker, said in primary interrogation that she has a relative working in Malaysia, adding that Fatema and Mim’s husbands also work there, Inspector Rowshan said.

They also provided a fake address to get passports, he added.