Chittagong: Some 32 Burmese citizens were arrested in Bangladesh in the last two days for staying in the country illegally, according to an official report.According to a police source, the Burmese nationals were arrested from different frontier areas in the Chittagong Hill Tract area near the Burmese border.

An Arakanese who is living in the area said that the Bangladesh police arrested many Burmese Muslims in Lama Township of Bandarban Hill District on Monday morning and Sunday evening.

Most were arrested as they crossed the border to seek refuge in Bangladesh territory. A police officer in Lama also said that a police team conducted raids in the areas and arrested 18 migrants on Monday morning, on charges of entering Bangladesh illegally.

On Sunday evening, another police team arrested 14 Burmese nationals from the same township.

According to a police source, all of the arrested individuals hailed from Maungdaw and Buthidaung Townships in Arakan State.

On Tuesday, 15 Burmese nationals were pushed back to Burma through a border pass of Bandarban hill district, close to Burma, the source said.

For the past two or three months there have been few arrests of Burmese citizens in Bangladesh, but authorities are once again cracking down on undocumented migrants.