Myanmar BGP shoots Rohingya child on Bandarban border

A Rohingya child was shot and wounded in Bandarban in firing by Border Guard Police (BGP) of Myanmar in no man's land along the Naikhyangchhari border this afternoon.

Injured child, Ansar Ullah, 11, son of Jamir Uddin, has been undergoing treatment at Kutupalong Red Crescent Hospital in Cox's Bazar, our local correspondent reports quoting Naikhyangchhari Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Sadia Afrin Kochi.

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Lt Col Manjurul Ahsan Khan, commanding officer of Cox's Bazar BGB battalion-34, told our correspondent that a BGP man from Myanmar's Dekubunia camp opened fire on Ansar Ullah as he went to barbed-wire fence on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border along Naikhyangchhari in Bandarban around 4:30pm to collect fire-wood, leaving him injured in the leg.  

Later, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) members rescued the boy and took him to Kutupalong Red Crescent Hospital, said the BGB official.

Dil Mohammad, a Rohingya community leader, told the correspondent that a patrolling BGP man from Myanmar territory opened fire on a group of 15-20 Rohingya children, who were playing football at Konapara in the no man's land. 

The BGP member fired one round bullet without any provocation, he said

Ansar Ullah, who is a resident of Raymonkhali village under Ekbonia Police Station in Mongdu district of Myanmar, fled to Bangladesh with his family members following a Myanmar military crackdown in August last year, Dil Mohammad told the correspondent.

Earlier, on March 1, a member of Myanmar security forces fired a shot in the air on the same border following an altercation with some Rohingyas in the no-man's land. The altercation sparked after some Myanmar troop members hurled abuse at the Rohingyas. Those troop members retreated soon after opening the blank fire.

Nearly 5,800 Rohingya people had been living in the no man's land near the Bangladeshi village of Konapara along the Naikhyangchhari border since the Myanmar army launched a ruthless campaign against the community in northern Rakhine state August 25 last year.

More than 700,000 Rohingyas fled Myanmar and entered Bangladesh after insurgent attacks sparked a military crackdown that the United Nations has said amounted to ethnic cleansing, with reports of arson attacks, murder and rape.

Yesterday, Amnesty International released a report that detailed new evidence of atrocities inflicted on Myanmar's Rohingya population.

The report also revealed names of 13 top military commanders who should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity, according to the human rights group.

Meanwhile, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, has urged the Human Rights Council to support efforts to investigate and prosecute at the International Criminal Court (ICC) those responsible for crimes that have occurred for decades across the country.