Dhaka, Feb 14 (EFE).– Bangladesh is set to repatriate some 330 Myanmar nationals, including troops, who had sought refuge amid an ongoing conflict in Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine state, officials said on Wednesday.
The deportation is scheduled to begin on Thursday.
The group of Myanmarese, which includes Border Guard Police, armed forces personnel, and immigration officials, fled into neighboring Bangladesh between Feb. 4 and 8, escaping the escalating conflict.
Among them is at least one Myanmar Army commander holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, according to Bangladesh authorities.
Border Guard Bangladesh said they disarmed the Myanmarese troops upon arrival and would hand them over to Myanmar officials at Inani Jetty, Cox’s Bazar district, on Thursday at 8 a.m.
The repatriation initiative coincides with intensified fighting between Myanmar’s armed forces and the rebel Arakan Army in Rakhine.
Adnan Chowdhury, administrative chief of Bangladesh’s Teknaf area near the Myanmar border, reported gunfire from Myanmar territory on Wednesday. The intensity appeared lower than in previous days.
“The sound of gunfights was heard even until noon today. The intensity of the fight, however, appeared less today compared to other days,” Chowdhury told EFE.
A Bangladeshi woman and a Rohingya man were killed by a shell fired from Myanmar on Feb 5. Several others sustained injuries from a recent shellfire, prompting displacement of border village residents by the government.
Local media reported the discovery of two unidentified bodies near the Bangladesh-Myanmar border amid ongoing clashes between Myanmar forces and rebels.
BGB chief Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui told reporters on Feb. 6 that they intercepted 65 Rohingyas attempting to enter Bangladesh from Myanmar, underscoring the government’s stance against further Rohingya influx.
Bangladesh hosts over a million Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar, mainly after the military crackdown in August 2017.
The conflict between the Arakan Army and Myanmar forces has persisted for months, exacerbating the region’s volatility.
Myanmar’s political upheaval since the military coup on Feb 1, 2021, has further intensified the country’s longstanding guerrilla warfare, fueling a vicious cycle of violence and instability. EFE
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