Bangladesh orders telecom operators to stop services in Rohingya camps

Bangladesh's telecommunications authority has ordered all mobile phone operators to stop telecommunication services and sale of sim cards to almost one million Rohingya refugees living in Cox's Bazar camps.

The decree has been issued in the interest of public safety following a series of violent crimes reported in the camps in recent weeks.

The notice issued by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) states that the telecommunication operators have seven days to submit reports to the government on the action taken by them in this regard, reported Dhaka Tribune.

More than 700,000 Rohingya were forced to flee the northern Rakhine in western Myanmar following a brutal military crackdown in 2017. The minorities took shelter in three dozen camps in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar, pushing the number of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh to above 1.2 million.