Mohammad Ali Jinnat

Despite the surrender of 102 top narcos in Teknaf, yaba smuggling continues under the supervision of some listed godfathers and hundi traders who recently launched credit sales of the pink pills.

With one police jeep in front and another behind, four buses brought 102 yaba godfathers and dealers to Teknaf Model Primary School from Cox's Bazar Police Lines around 9:00am yesterday.

For the first time in the country, around 100 yaba godfathers and dealers will surrender today at a formal programme in Teknaf, the entry point for the deadly drug from Myanmar.

One would be mesmerised by the duplex mansions by the 13km road between Teknaf Zero Point and Shah Porir Island. Most of the mansions are in the middle of farmland, forest or just beside the road.

With law enforcers locking up listed drug dealers and smugglers, new groups are filling their shoes adopting generous marketing strategies, including sales on credit. They are also using new routes to smuggle in yaba from Myanmar.

Nahiyan often springs up from bed at midnight and starts looking for her father Akramul Haque, the slain ward councillor of Teknaf municipality. The 12-year-old scurries to her father's bed and breaks down.

Take a trip down the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf highway, and you cannot miss the eye-catching duplex building by the main road near Leda station.

A two-storey training centre inside the secure compound of Cox's Bazar Police Lines is now the “safe home” for 63 alleged yaba godfathers and dealers in the district. At least 24 of them are on the government list of 73 top drug dealers in the country, said a top police official in Cox's Bazar.

Rohingyas living both in Rakhine and Cox's Bazar are in great risk of trafficking and exploitation as they seek a safe and better life after the brutal military crackdown last year, say law enforcers and aid agencies.

Exhausted Rohingyas walking with loads of firewood on their heads used to be a common sight around the refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, raising concerns about the long-term impact on the forest.

In a rare move, Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar camps yesterday began a three-day strike protesting what they say is the forcible issuing of 'smart cards' which exclude the word 'Rohingya'.

The humanitarian operations for the Rohingyas should be more transparent and cost effective as their repatriation may take longer than expected and the funding is inadequate.

The first batch of Rohingyas is all set to be sent back to Myanmar today amid reports that many of the refugees listed for return are hiding in fear of forcible repatriation.

The tourist city of Cox's Bazar is all set to host its second-ever international football tournament as the two semifinals of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup will be held today and tomorrow at the Birshreshtha Ruhul Amin Stadium.

The government and the UNHCR have been implementing a fresh programme to collect information on Rohingya refugees as per Myanmar's requirement for their repatriation.

The mansions of Nazirpara and Moulvipara, two remote villages in the coastal upazila of Teknaf, would fascinate anyone with their architectural beauty.

Myanmar will take back the around 7,000 Rohingyas, who have been staying in the no man's land adjacent to the Bangladeshi village of Konapara in Bandarban since they fled their homes in Rakhine following atrocities that began late August last year.

The 450 Hindus who would be taken back by Myanmar in the first batch on January 22 know little about their repatriation, and officials concerned here are also in the dark.

World Food Programme will provide rice, pulse, oil and other daily necessities to Rohingyas well into next year.

Selina Begum, 22, started walking from Rohingya settlements in Thyankhali camp to collect some relief goods with her two-year-old daughter yesterday.