An injured member of the Myanmar BGP is carried by another member to a Bangladesh Navy jetty at Inani in Cox’s Bazar before a Banglades0h-Myanmar joint team conducts their verification for their return home on Thursday. — Focus Bangla photo
A Myanmar naval ship on Thursday took back the country’s 330 troops and civilians who took shelter in Bangladesh between February 4 and 8, fleeing the ongoing conflict between the government forces and the ethnic group Arakan Army in Rakhine State.
Border Guard Bangladesh authorities initially transported the Myanmar nationals to a naval jetty in Inani, Cox’s Bazar, before a Bangladesh-Myanmar joint team conducted their verification one by one.
Part of the group was then taken to a private Bangladeshi ship, which ferried them to the Union of Myanmar Ship Chindwin, anchored in the deep sea.
Bangladesh authorities shared the medical statements of all the escapees while handing over their custody to a five-member Myanmar team led by police colonel Myo Thura Naung.
The troops in plainclothes and uniform, wearing sandals or bare feet, carrying small packs of meals, water bottles, and baggage, were escorted by BGB personnel with weapons and life vests to the Bangladeshi ship MV Karnafuly Express after their handing over and verification.
A few critically injured soldiers were seen being carried by their fellows while authorities cordoned off an area of around a five-kilometre radius, limiting transport and public movements.
After the first batch of 165 people left the jetty at about 12:30pm on the private ship, BGB director general Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui said a ‘unique situation’ had been created on the border, but the directives from prime minister Sheikh Hasina helped all stakeholders work jointly to make the repatriation of all Myanmar nationals successful.
In the afternoon, the home ministry said a Coast Guard tugboat ferried the remaining Myanmar nationals to the Myanmar ship.
This repatriation was done in light of a mutual agreement between the two countries, the BGB chief, flanked by senior Bangladeshi officials, told reporters near the jetty.
The BGB chief, however, vowed that no more influx would be allowed anyway.
Attending the same press briefing, Aung Kyaw Moe, the Myanmar ambassador to Bangladesh, thanked Bangladesh authorities for extending cooperation to the repatriation and providing medical treatments to their injured soldiers in Bangladeshi hospitals.
He recalled the ‘special relations’ the two border guarding forces had.
Officials at BGB headquarters said the Myanmar nationals who returned included 302 members of the Border Guard Police, four of their family members, two members of the Myanmar Army, 18 immigration officials, and four civilians.
BGB transported them to the naval jetty in Inani, Cox’s Bazar from Bandarban’s Naikhyangchari, and Cox’s Bazar’s Teknaf, where they were sheltered at government facilities.
Bangladeshi officials said that the 77-metre Myanmar troop transport ship, Chindwin, ferried all the Myanmar troops and civilians at once, but the weapons seized from them during their arrival in Bangladesh territory were not handed over.
Asked about the weapons and ammunition, the BGB chief said that handing over the arms was a separate process that got underway, but their priority was to repatriate Myanmar personnel.
Bangladesh Navy Ship Prottay escorts Union Myanmar Ship Chindwin to and from Bangladeshi territory.
BGB’s additional director general, Brigadier General Jahangir Alam, said that they had asked Myanmar officials about the condition of their troops, and they replied that they were in a good position.
Bangkok-based rights group Fortify Right, in a statement on February 8, called on the Bangladesh government to investigate newly arrived Myanmar personnel for their possible involvement in crimes and atrocities in Myanmar and coordinate with the International Criminal Court’s ongoing investigation into crimes against Rohingya people.
Asked about examining the individual’s roles, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud told reporters in Dhaka on Wednesday that at this point, repatriation of Myanmar forces was the prime objective.
Meanwhile, a New Age correspondent in Cox’s Bazar reported that the unnoticed suspension of travel from Inani jetty caused suffering for those who bought tickets for their cruise to Saint Martin for the day.
Tourists said they reached the jetty at about 10:00am but were made to wait until 1:00pm as BGB cordoned off the areas. Many tourists were seen walking with their luggage and children.
‘We are allowed to get to the jetty area after the BGB chief left,’ said one of the tourists.
The authorities used the Bangladeshi ship MV Karnafuly Express, disrupting its own passengers’ service for the day, while the handover programme forced the rescheduling of another cruise ship, MV Baro Aulia, to and from Inani and Saint Martin.
A tourist from Dhaka, Moslem Bhuiya, said that he was scheduled to return to Cox’s Bazar at about 3:00pm from Saint Martin but was waiting until 6:00pm.
He said several hundred tourists suffered due to schedule disruptions.
The heavily armed BGB and Coast Guard have been patrolling the bordering Naf River and adjacent areas since Monday. At the same time, the local administration has suspended the movement of civilian ships between Teknaf and Saint Martin since February 10.
New Age
