COX'S BAZAR
Dozens of Bangladeshi police officers were standing guard Sunday around a hotel in Cox's Bazar in a bid to fend off Turkish aid workers from delivering humanitarian aid to Rohingya Muslims who fled violence in Myanmar's Rakhine for refugee camps in this neighboring country.
An Anadolu Agency correspondent who also stays at the hotel witnessed the tight surveillance on Turkish aid workers as police officers in plain clothes tailed those who left the hotel and forced them to return as well as intimidating local drivers of vehicles the Turkish charity groups hired to distribute aid.
"We condemn the Bangladeshi government's intimidation policy against us. We will continue to help our Arakanese brethren as long as this wound continues to bleed," a Turkish aid worker told the AA.
Earlier, Bangladeshi police released 18 Turkish aid workers after holding them under custody for five hours on Saturday as they tried to enter refugee camps to deliver aid.
"They are disturbed that we are here. The Bangladeshi government fears that more aid would draw more refugees. That's what it is all about," another Turkish aid worker has said.
