World News | Rohingya Refugee Leader Shot Dead in Bangladesh Camp

Dhaka, Sep 29 (AP) Unidentified miscreants opened fire on a prominent leader of the Rohingya refugees, leaving him dead in a camp in Bangladesh, a police official said Wednesday.

Naimul Haque, an commander of the Armed Police Battalion in Cox's Bazar, said in a statement that the gun attack on Mohibullah took place at the Kutupalong refugee camp at Ukhiya in Cox's Bazar district late Wednesday. Doctors in hospital declared him dead after he was rushed there. He is known by his one name.

Also Read | Ties Between Taliban, Pakistan Will Be Not Easy as Hoped in Islamabad: Expert.

No groups claimed responsibility and it was not clear immediately who was behind the attack.

Mohibullah, a teacher turned rights activist, emerged as a key Rohingya refugee leader and a spokesman representing the refugees from neighbouring Myanmar in international meetings. The 50-year-old came to Bangladesh in 2017 when about 700,000 refugees fled Myanmar amid violence allegedly perpetrated by Myanmar soldiers.

Also Read | Tunisia Names First Female Prime Minister Raoudha Boudent Ramadhane, Amid Turmoil.

In 2019, he represented the refugees on a visit to the White House for a meeting with then-U.S. President Donald Trump on religious freedom, where he raised points about the sufferings and persecution faced by the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. But he was bitterly criticised by Bangladeshi media the same year after he led a massive rally of 200,000 refugees to commemorate the second anniversary of the crackdown by Myanmar's military.

In a statement, Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at the Human Rights Watch, said that Mohibullah was a vital voice for the community of Rohingya.

“He always defended the rights of the Rohingya to safe and dignified returns and to have a say in the decisions concerning their lives and future. His killing is a stark demonstration of the risks faced by those in the camps who speak up for freedom and against violence,” Ganguly said.

“Mohibullah's death undermines not only the struggle of Rohingya refugees for greater rights and protection in the refugee camps, but also their efforts to safely return to their homes in Myanmar. Bangladesh authorities should urgently investigate Mohibullah's killing along with other attacks on Rohingya activists in the camps," she said.

About 700,000 Rohingya fled to the camps in Cox's Bazar after August 2017, when the military in Buddhist-majority Myanmar began a harsh crackdown on the Muslim group following an attack by insurgents. The crackdown included rapes, killings and the torching of thousands of homes, and was termed ethnic cleansing by global rights groups and the United Nations. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)