Myanmar forces take position along border again

Members of Myanmar's Border Guard Police (BGP) were seen patrolling the area since Monday morning

By Dhaka Tribune
After a three-day interval, the Myanmar army once again took position along the Tambru border in Naikkhongchhari upazila of Bandarban on Monday, creating panic among the Rohingyas who have taken shelter in the no man’s land, reports UNB.

Confirming the development, Lt Col Monzurul Hassan Khan, commanding officer of the 34th battalion of the Border Guard Bangladesh’s (BGB), said: “The situation along the Tambru border point is now calm and the BGB members, deployed in the border area, are on alert. There’s nothing to be panicked about and the BGB is ready to tackle any situation.”

Ghumdhum union Chairman AKM Jahangir Aziz said members of Myanmar’s Border Guard Police (BGP) were seen patrolling the area since Monday morning.

On Saturday, Myanmar had removed its army from Tambru following a flag meeting with BGB on Friday.

The Myanmar army took position with heavy troops and artillery along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border on Thursday morning.

At the flag meeting, BGP had claimed that its increased presence and recent firing at Tambru was meant to protect Myanmar territory and should not be viewed as acts of aggression against Bangladesh.

Around 6,500 Rohingyas from different villages in the Rakhine state are stuck in the no man’s land since late August of last year.

They are also reportedly among the 8,032 named in the initial repatriation list, which the Bangladesh government handed over to Myanmar last month.

A good number of Rohingyas also gathered near the zero point of the border in the last one month. BGP members and Myanmar army personnel were seen conducting various activities there like installing barbed-wire fences, digging bunkers, and setting up advanced technological surveillance equipment.

The security forces over the past one month have also been issuing warnings using loudspeakers and asking refugees to leave that area.

Myanmar security forces’ move on Thursday had come two days after three Nobel Peace laureates – Shirin Ebadi of Iran, Tawakkol Karman of Yemen, and Mairead Maguire of Northern Ireland – visited the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar and Tambru border point.

More than 700,000 Rohingya refugees have crossed into Bangladesh since a military crackdown began in late August 2017 following an insurgent attack in Rakhine. They joined more than 400,000 Rohingyas who were already living in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.