Shaken, they tell of horror they've fled

Helpless and hapless.

Feelings of trepidation at being at the mercy of border guards of a neighbouring country are etched across the faces of refugees escaping persecution at home in Myanmar. Hundreds of refugees huddled in a group at no-man's land in Ghumdhum along Teknaf border were pleading silently at border guards to let them into safety in Bangladesh.   

They knew they would not be welcomed so easily. They would have to wait at the border for a longtime before crossing it. Yet, they might not have had any other option apart from rushing towards Bangladesh. So they came with little a preparation.

Though they left their homes hurriedly, many of them came to the border with umbrellas, polythene sheets, bamboo sticks and shocking tales of a persecution at the hands of their own government. 

A group of women approaching an unregistered camp in Ukhia. Photo: Anisur Rahman

 Visiting  the Ghumdhum border area, where the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has gathered around 2500 Rohingyas, our staff photographer Anisur Rahman saw a few hundred of them, from all walks of life, waiting at the zero point, under tents they made using polythene sheets and bamboo.

"They killed my husband," said one of the women when asked about the situation in Myanmar.

"We have a two storied house there, but we had to run away to save our lives, leaving everything behind," said a middle aged woman who identified herself as Mamtaz Begum, who hails from a nearby village. Mamtaz Begum is just one of many ill fated individuals who were seeking refuge from a horrifying fate.

On the other side of the border, a few thousands were waiting for the right moment to cross the border and enter Bangladesh. Around seven to eight hundred more people were waiting at the zero point. Most of them were women and children.

On the hills of Ghundhum, some Rohingya refugees set up makeshift camps while waiting for permission to come down to the main camp. Photo: Anisur Rahman

Of the ones that did make it across the border, some were seen carrying only the most basic essentials in plastic bags. Most of them though came empty handed. 

Whoever this journalist asked about what happened in Myanmar, they gave horrifying accounts of their houses being burned and being shot at sight, of entire villages razed to the ground and whole neighbourhoods being pillaged. 

On the way to Ghumdhum yesterday morning, this correspondent found many small groups of Rohingya women wearing muddied Burqas, waiting by the roadside, under the shade of trees. A glance upon them and anybody would understand that these people crossed the border the night before. 

An hour after entering Bangladesh, a Rohingya family is seen on a rickshaw. Photo: Anisur Rahman

Speaking to local people, it came to light that some of the newly arrived Rohingyas wanted to enter the Balukhali unregistered Rohingya camp. But residents of Balukhali camp did not allow them.

Now they did not know where to go.

Local Bangladeshi citizens feared that this time the situation would be worse than last year. They said that they had never seen so many people waiting so desperately to cross the border. Doing their part, the locals were helping them with food and water.

A devastated and exhausted Rohingya woman rests her forehead against her hand. Photo: Anisur Rahman