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Rohingya refugees from Myanmar get off a boat after crossing into Bangladesh through the Bay of Bengal on Sept. 11.   © Reuters
Politics

Rohingya crisis raises risks of terrorism and social unrest

Refugee influx burdens Bangladesh with an 'impossible' task

YUJI KURONUMA, Nikkei staff writer | Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh -- The typical morning in Cox's Bazar might be described as tranquil. Boys and girls gather to peel the shells off shrimp brought in by small fishing boats. Tourists sit in quiet reflection on the beach, one of the world's longest. Yet this southeastern corner of Bangladesh finds itself at the center of a humanitarian emergency, and last Thursday it was the scene of staggering horror.

Dozens of bodies, many of them children, washed ashore. They were all Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution south of the border, in Myanmar's Rakhine State. A boat carrying about 80 refugees had capsized in vicious wind and waves; the International Organization for Migration later said 23 died and 40 were missing.

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