Saudi authorities begin deporting Rohingyas to Bangladesh

Saudi authorities begin deporting Rohingyas to Bangladesh

Saudi Arabia is deporting scores of stateless Rohingyas, who were held indefinitely by the kingdom, to Bangladesh, reports London-based online news portal Middle East Eye.

The Rohingyas, some of them having spent nearly five to six years in Saudi detention, were sent for preparation on Sunday for deportation at the Shumaisi detention centre in Jeddah, the news portal reported on Sunday.

One of the videos sent to the Middle East Eye shows a Rohingya detainee sitting down, filming secretly, as dozens of Rohingyas are lined up to be processed for removal in Shumaisi.

Some Rohingyas were also put in handcuffs after they attempted to resist their deportation to Bangladesh, according to voice notes sent to the MEE.

The man in the video, who was speaking in native language, said: "I've been here for the last five to six years, now they are sending me to Bangladesh. Please pray for me."

 

Another recording sent to MEE recounted the events that led up to Sunday's forcible removal of the Rohingyas.

"They came to our cells in the middle of the night at 12:00am, telling us to pack our bags and get ready for Bangladesh," said a Rohingya detainee, who wished to remain anonymous.

"Now I am in handcuffs and being taken to a country I'm not from - I am Rohingya, not Bangladeshi."

Nay San Lwin, a Rohingya activist, condemned the Saudi deportations.

"If these Rohingya detainees are released in Saudi Arabia, they can support their families held in refugee camps in Bangladesh, instead of accepting their deportation to Bangladesh," Lwin told MEE.

"They are not criminals to be held in handcuffs, and I am very sad to see them being treated like criminals by the Saudi authorities.

"I appeal to the Saudi government, as a Rohingya, not to deport anyone and release them as soon as possible."

Commenting on what will happen to the deported Rohingyas, Lwin said: "Now they will be sent to refugee camps and will increase the number of refugees in Bangladesh."

Last year, Middle East Eye reported that Rohingya detainees were being prepared for deportation just days after Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited Saudi Arabia.

Documents leaked to MEE confirmed testimony from detainees that forms from the Saudi Interior Ministry demanded a confirmation on the refugees' "full mental health" before their deportation to Bangladesh.

Detainees said Rohingyas were "punched" in the chest by Saudi immigration police and forced to sign the documents.

Many Rohingyas locked up in the Shumaisi detention centre came to Saudi Arabia on Bangladeshi passports, obtained via fake documents.

Some Rohingyas had also come on passports from other South Asian countries, including Bhutan, India, Pakistan and Nepal.

But after landing in Saudi Arabia, customs officials took the Bangladeshi passports as a precaution to stop them from running away.

However, some detainees locked up in Shumaisi told MEE they had lived in Saudi Arabia their whole life and had been sent to the detention centre after Saudi police found them with no papers.

The Rohingyas have been denied citizenship in Myanmar since 1982. Deprived of basic rights and persecuted in Myanmar, they flocked to Bangladesh in various waves of violence.

Since August 2017, over 750,000 Rohingyas fled brutal military campaign in Rakhine to Bangladesh.

YS