Police have charged batons on a demonstration of the dismissed Unicef project teachers of Cox’s Bazar Rohingya refugee camps, who have been protesting for job reinstatement over the past few days.
The demonstration took place around 9am at Foliapara area of Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf road in Ukhiya upazila. At that time, at least 15 individuals, including Jinia Sharmin Riya, a student leader of the July Movement and a former coordinator of Cox’s Bazar district unit Students Against Discrimination, were taken into police custody, said sources.
Several protesters were injured when police baton-charged them.
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However, the identities of those who sustained injuries, and those who have been taken into police custody, other than Jinia Sharmin, could not be ascertained immediately.
Several protesters said in the morning, some 40-50 protesting teachers were peacefully demonstrating by gathering at the Foliapara Road near Ukhiya sadar police station. They were staging their programme by standing beside the road without causing any public inconvenience. At one point, police arrived and asked the protesters to disperse. As the protesters refused to comply, the police used batons to beat them, leaving 7-8 protesters injured.
Additionally, police detained 10 to 15 protesters from the scene. The injured are receiving treatment at Ukhiya Upazila Health Complex, they added.
Additional Superintendent of Cox’s Bazar District Police (ASP, Media) Md Jashim Uddin Chowdhury said the protesters have been removed from the scene to reduce the inconvenience of the public, and the situation is currently under control. “We have taken a few individuals into custody, and will make decisions regarding them after verification.”
Earlier, police held a meeting with the dismissed teachers yesterday, said the ASP.
On Monday, the teachers blocked Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf Road for 10 hours from 6am to 4pm to press their demands, causing traffic jams and subsequent sufferings for travellers.
On 3 June, Unicef and Save the Children sent a letter to the Cox’s Bazar Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) announcing the closure of all NGO-run educational activities in the Rohingya camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf. As a result, 1,250 teachers were dismissed. However, while local teachers were dismissed, no Rohingya workers employed in the camps were affected.
