By Ruma Paul and Sudipto Ganguly
DHAKA (Reuters) – Dozens of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh gathered to pray for the early release of a Rohingya insurgent leader arrested this week on charges of murder, illegal entry and militant activities.
Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi, leader of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), and some others were arrested on Tuesday during a raid near the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.
An International Crisis Group report said Ataullah led ARSA’s violent campaign in 2016 against Myanmar’s security forces to reclaim the rights of Rohingya Muslims, who say they face persecution at the hands of Myanmar’s Buddhist majority.
ARSA attacks on border guard posts led to a military crackdown in Myanmar that prompted more than 750,000 Rohingya to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh in 2017.
Videos shared by Rohingya Muslims living in refugee camps in southern Bangladesh showed men and women gathered at separate meetings to pray for Ataullah.
A government official in Cox’s Bazar, the Bangladeshi coastal city that hosts the world’s largest refugee settlement, confirmed that the prayer meetings were held on Wednesday.
“ARSA is the only group that has managed to put pressure on the Myanmar government,” said Mohammed Taher, a Rohingya refugee. “Our voices and our plight have reached the world because of them. If they are working honestly for our cause, they should be allowed to continue.”
However, Taher said some people in the camps were happy with Ataullah’s arrest because they believed it would improve law and order that has been eroded by factional violence there.
Bangladeshi police said ARSA activities extend beyond insurgent operations, with some members allegedly involved in killings, kidnappings and smuggling within refugee camps in Bangladesh, where over a million Rohingya are sheltering.
ARSA’s presence in the camps has also led to violent infighting, with dozens of deaths resulting from clashes between ARSA militants and rival factions.
Bangladesh says it is overburdened with the Rohingya and wants them repatriated.
Myanmar’s rulers view the Rohingya as foreign interlopers and have denied them citizenship, leaving little prospect of their repatriation from its South Asian neighbour.
“To us, these people are notorious hoodlums. We (have) never believed they have any political foresight or political philosophy,” said Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, Bangladesh’s refugee relief and repatriation commissioner based in Cox’s Bazar.
“We are confident that there will be improvement in law and order inside and outside the camps if we are able to combat them effectively. We are continuously working towards that.”
(Reporting by Ruma Paul and Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; writing by Sudipto Ganguly; editing by YP Rajesh and Mark Heinrich)
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