Bangladesh rescues 18 Rohingya after boat capsizes, 9 missing

Bangladeshi fishermen rescued 18 Rohingya on Friday after a boat carrying them capsized off the coast of the country's southeastern Cox's Bazar district, while nine others remained missing, police said.

The boat overturned near Shahpari Dwip, an island in the Bay of Bengal in Teknaf. None of those rescued were women or children.

Teknaf Model Police Station Officer in Charge Saiful Islam told Anadolu that the Border Guard Bangladesh had handed the 18 survivors over to police and that legal proceedings were underway.

Islam claimed that the rescued individuals were members of a Rohingya armed group who had returned to Myanmar's Rakhine state to fight rival groups before attempting to re-enter Bangladesh and reunite with people in the Cox's Bazar refugee camps.

Myanmar's military government and armed groups have been engaged in escalating fighting for control of Rakhine state along the border with Bangladesh.

Bangladesh hosts more than 1.3 million forcibly displaced Rohingya from Myanmar, most of whom fled a military crackdown in August 2017 and sought refuge in the Cox's Bazar region.

On July 16, the UN refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration said more than 500 Rohingya were feared dead after two boats that departed Myanmar's Rakhine state in late June sank. Some of those aboard were reported to have traveled from refugee camps in Cox's Bazar.