Rohingya imam witnessed wife, daughter killed by soldiers

The tragedy forced the 78-year-old imam to flee to Bangladesh and become among the many ethnic Rohingya refugees who were forced to seek shelter at the Kutupalong Refugee Camp, about 35 km from here.

"When the soldiers came, I was teaching children Quranic recitation. They shot the villagers and burnt down the houses.

"We faced various challenges before arriving at this camp 25 days ago. It took me and six other people seven days to reach Kutupalong. We had to hide from the Myanmar military and be careful of bombs that were planted in the area," said Muhammad Sidiq through a camp translator.

He said many of the Rohingya in the Rakhine State were killed cruelly and their houses burnt down, causing them to flee to the border of Bangladesh.

For Nur Begum, 22, she was at loss on how to continue with her life after fleeing from Rakhine State with her sons, aged two and four months.

"My village was attacked by the military and my husband was shot by them. However, I safely escaped here with my children, taking three days to reach the camp. In that period, we had nothing to eat," said Nur Begum who had arrived at the Kutupalong Refugee Camp 10 days ago.

Nur Begum added that life was harder now as she had to raise her children all by herself as a refugee.

In checks done by Bernama at the refugee camp, it was found that the number of Rohingya refugees who had just arrived at the camp and registered with the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as well as those who had not registered with UNHCR had increased.

The refugees lived in squalid conditions, lacking basic necessities such as water and electricity and depending on food from humanitarian organisations.

For four-year-old Kisna Tara, she instantly became an orphan when the Myanmar military killed both her parents.

Now, she is raised by her grandmother, Nur Aishah, 40, who had brought her to the camp several months ago.

It has been reported that more more than a million ethnic Rohingya have sought shelter at refugee camps in Bangladesh, withe numbers rising with the increased attacks in Rakhine State by Myanmar's military since Aug 25.

The actual number of refugees has yet to be ascertained as many have not registered with UNHCR.