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Refugee boats keep coming

DWAIPAYAN BARUA, from Teknaf
It was past midnight yesterday when a patrol team of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) spotted a fishing trawler approaching the estuary of the Naf River near Shah Pori Island.
Despite several light signals the BGB men, who were out there to prevent Rohingya influx, could see no human movement or hails in the boat. It was quite difficult for them to get close to the boat as it was moving erratically. When they
managed to get close they found no one in the trawler.
But that was not the surprise. As one of the BGB men went for a look in the dark engine room he suddenly noticed movement of tiny hands and legs.
“It was a newborn baby,” said Maj Saiful Wadud, operation officer of BGB, adding that they had a tough time getting on to the unsteady boat and bring the baby out. It took them two and a half hours to execute the rescue.The baby was in a terrible condition and did not have the strength to even cry, said MajSaiful.
The BGB men rushed the baby to the nearby border observatory post in Shah Pori Island, provided primary treatment there and kept it temporarily under the care of a local fisherman.
Fisherman Kabir Ahmed, a resident of Gholapara village and father of seven, said hearing about the rescue of a baby he had contacted BGB and requested them to give him its custody.
"I am deeply shocked to see the destitute Rohingyas. I would like to bring up the baby because it would make me feel better that I could do something for a helpless human being," said Kabir.
He said after feeding, the baby got back some strength.
Maj Saiful said they had already informed the higher authorities of the matter and necessary steps would be taken later.
BGB suspects that the trawler, in which the baby was, might have been attacked by robbers and the passengers abandoned the boat leaving the newborn behind.
Border and coast guards intercepted five trawlers, including the one with the baby, until 5:00pm yesterday and held 153 Myanmar refugees, who were fleeing the ongoing sectarian clash in neighbouring Rakhine state.
Maj Saiful said the refugees intercepted had told him that one trawler was attacked by robbers in the NafTuesday night.
While visiting a trawler that was carrying 44 intruders and was challenged by BGB near Gholar Char area around 4:00am yesterday, a 34-year-old mother found with a six-month-old baby also told The Daily Star about robbers' attack in the Naf.
Hosna Begum, the mother, was seen beggingher fellow passengers for a little space under the plastic roof of the trawler to protect her child from rain.
Approached, she said she got detached from her three other children and husband in the face of violent attacks in their village. She with the infant headed for a safe shelter in Bangladesh on Sunday. The rest of the family were now at Sakkipara in Myanmar, she added.
After failed attempts to get into Bangladesh for couple of days they almost reached the coast around 11:00pm on
Tuesday when their trawler came under attack of robbers, she said.
Almost all the passengers jumped into the river and she with her son somehow managed to swim to the shore, said Hosna Begum.
But her desperate attempt failed again as she was caught by the BGB yesterday morning and was pushed back with the others.
This trawler with 44 passengers attempted to get into Bangladesh on Monday too and then it had 47 passengers. Asked what had happened, the boatman said three of the passengers jumped into the river when BGB men spotted their boat. They might have reached the shore safely, he said, adding that they had been trying to get into Bangladesh through different points including St Martin's Island, Teknaf and Ukhiya.
Twenty three out of the 44 passengers were children and many of them were suffering from diarrhoea, said the boatman.
BGB and locals provided the refugees with food, water and saline yesterday as the intruders had to be kept waiting in Bangladesh due to bad weather. They were finally escorted out of the territory around 5:00pm.
BGB and Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG) intercepted another boat carrying 30 refugees near the Naf estuary around 7:00am. They brought the boat to a nearby jetty where the guards with the help of locals gave the intruders some dry food, water and saline. The people were pushed back around 12:10pm.
Around 5:00pm, BGB and BCG intercepted a boat with 32 intruders and pushed them back around 7:45pm.
A BCG patrol team intercepted another trawler with 39 passengers at St Martin's Island around 3:30am. But these people could not be sent back as their boat needed repair and due to rough weather, said Operation Officer of BGB 42 Battalion Capt Kamrul Islam.
Meanwhile, BGB had detained seven Myanmar nationals during a raid in Jaliapara village of Shah Pori Island last evening, said Kamrul Islam, adding that the raids would continue.
ANM Nazim Uddin, upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) of Teknaf, admitted that some Myanmar nationals had secretly entered into the territory escaping strict vigilance. MORE ON PAGE 20