[🇧🇩] Insurgencies in Myanmar. Implications for Bangladesh

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Foreign fighters in Myanmar: Implications for the region

In almost all conflict zones mercenaries actively aid one side or the other

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Foreign fighters in Myanmar: Implications for the region

Volunteer members of Karenni insurgent forces walk in Moe Bye in Kayah State, Myanmar on November 12, 2023.

Al-Jazeera came out with a piece of news on May 17, titled "Western volunteers join the battle against Myanmar's military regime." The news otherwise heralds a new dimension to the three-year-old civil conflict in Myanmar. But more importantly, it sounds almost like a repetition of what happened earlier in Afghanistan, which also saw a flow of Western (and Eastern) volunteers before the United States intervened militarily, which, in the end, killed thousands of Afghans and devastated the country. However, following the military intervention, the US government spent $2.26 trillion, with the most significant portion—nearly $1 trillion—consumed by the Overseas Contingency Operations budget for the Department of Defense, mainly to benefit the country's military-industrial complex. Should the news then concern the countries in the region that something similar is in the offing in Myanmar, unless contained in its infancy?

The question merits attention for two reasons. Firstly, the NUG/PDF, in its conflict against the Myanmar military or Tatmadaw, is overtly and covertly supported by the Western powers, including the US. Secondly, the Burma Act, declared by the US in April 2022, gave "discretionary authority" to the US president to interpret the act liberally, mainly when providing military aid to ethnic armed organisations (EAOs). Both reasons, in combination, probably encouraged Western volunteers to slip into Myanmar for adventure, dedication, and profit, albeit taking advantage of the US' concern for civil rights in Myanmar, notwithstanding its lopsidedness and naïveté.

It is crucial to keep in mind here that having "foreign fighters" or mercenaries in conflict zones is not out of the norm. Instead, it has become the rule. In almost all conflict zones, whether Congo or Ukraine, mercenaries actively aid one side or the other. Apart from foreign mercenaries, there are also native mercenaries who are exploiting and profiting from the situation. One good example would be the Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF), the banned ethno-nationalist armed militant group in Bangladesh based in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Recently, they trained and supplied weapons not to their people but to the members of Jama'atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya, an Islamist militant group.

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WB to give $400m loan, $300m grant for Rohingya, hosts

World Bank (WB) yesterday approved two projects totalling $700 million to provide basic services and build disaster and social resilience for both the displaced Rohingya population in Bangladesh and the host communities.

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WB to give $400m loan, $300m grant for Rohingya, hosts

Rohingya refugee children walk along the road at Balukhali camp in Cox's Bazar. The World Bank provided $590 million in grants since the onset of the Rohingya crisis. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE

World Bank (WB) yesterday approved two projects totalling $700 million to provide basic services and build disaster and social resilience for both the displaced Rohingya population in Bangladesh and the host communities.

Of the amount, $407.50 million is in the form of a loan and the remaining $292.50 million a grant, according to a WB appraisal document.

The $407.50 million loan will be the first of its kind by the global lender since the onset of the Rohingya crisis.

The loan will have an interest rate of two percent and a repayment period of 30 years, including an eight-year grace period, said an Economic Relations Division official.

According to a WB press release, the lender provided $590 million in grants since the onset of the Rohingya crisis.

The two projects are underpinned by the lessons learned through the previous interventions, as well as learnings from forced displacement crises around the world, it read.

According to the WB appraisal document, the financing has been a critical complement to the humanitarian response, which has been declining.

An annual "Joint Response Plan (JRP) for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis", managed by the Bangladesh government and United Nations partners, coordinates financing for critical humanitarian services for the displaced Rohingya population and host communities.

The 2023 JRP needed $876 million but was able to gather only 49 percent of it as of December 2023, says the document.

This led to a reduction in food assistance provided by World Food Programme, for which an estimated 78 percent of the displaced Rohingya population did not have sufficient food in 2023.

Earlier in November 2022, it was estimated to be 44 percent.

The press release says the WB has helped the displaced Rohingya population and host communities on disaster preparedness, basic infrastructure, social protection, collaborative forest management, and income generation opportunities for the host communities.

"We greatly appreciate the Government of Bangladesh's generosity in supporting nearly one million Rohingya people. We also recognise the enormous pressure placed on the host communities," said Abdoulaye Seck, World Bank country director for Bangladesh and Bhutan.

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Rohingya camps risk turning into a terrorist hub: home minister

'If the Rohingyas are not repatriated soon, dissatisfaction may turn this place [Rohingya camps] into a potential hub for international terrorists,' says Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal

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Rohingya camps risk turning into a terrorist hub: home minister

Photo: Collected

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal today said the Rohingya camps risk turning into a potential hub for international terrorists if the persecuted citizens of Myanmar are not repatriated to their country soon.

"If the Rohingyas are not repatriated soon, dissatisfaction may turn this place [Rohingya camps] into a potential hub for international terrorists. We are finding some evidence in support of this," he said while visiting a camp this morning, reports our Cox's Bazar staff correspondent.

He said actions are being taken against those in the camps who got involved in drug trafficking and criminal activities.

The home minister reached Camp 19 at Ukhiya around 11:00am today and held a meeting with Armed Police Battalion (APBn) members. Later, he observed various activities at the camp.

The minister was accompanied by Bangladesh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, Additional IGP Anwar Hossain, APBn chief Salim Mohammad Jahangir, and Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mizanur Rahman.

The home minister is in Cox's Bazar on a two-day trip. During the trip, he held several meetings with different stakeholders about the Rohingya camp issues.

The minister last night chaired a meeting on the Rohingya camps' law and order situation at Hilltop Circuit House in Cox's Bazar.​

 

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WFP increases food rations again for Rohingya in Cox’s Bazar

Starting June 1, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) will partially increase food rations for all Rohingya in Cox’s Bazar camps, raising the entitlement from US$10 to US$11 per person per month. This marks the second increase this year and a step closer to reaching the full ration

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

WFP increases food rations again for Rohingya in Cox's Bazar
UNB
Published :
May 31, 2024 23:00
Updated :
May 31, 2024 23:00

Reuters file pjoto

Starting June 1, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) will partially increase food rations for all Rohingya in Cox's Bazar camps, raising the entitlement from US$10 to US$11 per person per month.

This marks the second increase this year and a step closer to reaching the full ration target of US$12.50 by August.

In addition to the monetary increase, WFP has included fortified rice in its food assistance since the beginning of this year.

Locally procured and fortified, this rice has significantly higher nutritional value than regular rice, containing essential vitamins and micronutrients critical to people's health and well-being.

Coverage of this enhanced assistance has already reached 100 per cent of the Rohingya population in Cox's Bazar, said WFP on Friday.

In 2023, faced with an unprecedented funding crisis, WFP had to cut its food assistance from the full entitlement at the time of US$12 to US$8, leaving the Rohingya with just 25 cents to meet their daily food needs.

While a partial increase was made at the beginning of this year, from US$8 to US$10, consequences of hunger and malnutrition persisted, exacerbating the already dire situation in the camps.

By November, 90 per cent of the population could not afford an adequate diet, up from 80 per cent in June.

The nutritional status among children deteriorated rapidly, with the global acute malnutrition (GAM) rate rising to 15.1 per cent, exceeding the WHO emergency threshold and the highest rate recorded since 2017.

"It is imperative that we return to full rations as soon as possible. Doing so will not only address the immediate suffering but also reduce the strain on other critical programmes, such as protection, health, education, shelter, cooking gas – many of which now face severe funding cuts," said Dom Scalpelli, WFP Country Director for Bangladesh.

To escape the hardships in the camps, nearly 4,500 Rohingya risked their lives at sea in 2023, some 569 of them died or went missing along the journey – the most since 2014.

In the camps, the security situation has deteriorated. In recent months, violent incidents occurred nearly daily in the camps, with alleged abductions and forced recruitment of men by military groups being a major concern.

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FM calls for coordinated efforts to resolve Rohingya crisis

Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud has called for addressing the ongoing conflict in Rakhine state and taking a coordinated international action to repatriate Rohingyas to Myanmar from Bangladesh. The foreign minister, who is now in the United States on a three-day official visit, made the appea

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

FM calls for coordinated efforts to resolve Rohingya crisis

Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud has called for addressing the ongoing conflict in Rakhine state and taking a coordinated international action to repatriate Rohingyas to Myanmar from Bangladesh.

The foreign minister, who is now in the United States on a three-day official visit, made the appeal during four separate meetings at the UN Headquarters in New York on Friday, BSS reported on Saturday citing a foreign ministry's press release in Dhaka.

During the meeting with United Nations General Assembly President Dennis Francis, Dr Mahmud said when about one million people fled to Bangladesh to escape violence in Myanmar, the people of Cox's Bazar and Chattogram received them with compassion.

"But gradually the Rohingyas are getting employment in different places out of the camps and the camps have become a haven for various crimes including human trafficking, drug smuggling, terrorism. As a result, the locals are passing a very difficult time," he added.

During his meeting with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, Hasan said apart from the Rohingyas, since last February, about 750 members of the Myanmar Border Guard Police and Army have fled to Bangladesh at various times.

Most of them have been sent back, and the rest are in the process of being returned.

"Not only that, the shells of the conflicting groups in Myanmar also caused casualties in Bangladesh. It is absolutely necessary to prevent the recurrence of these," Hasan said.

In a meeting with the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for Myanmar, the former foreign minister of Australia, Julie Bishop, Mahmud said that the ongoing conflict situation in Myanmar is not a new phenomenon and it should not be given an opportunity to be used as an excuse against Rohingya repatriation.

Earlier, Bangladesh's foreign minister addressed a session titled "Crisis, Conflicts, and Inter-Agency Collaboration: Nexus Approach" at the UN Headquarters.

The session was attended by heads of six UN agencies, including UNDP, UNFPA, UNOPS, UN Women, and deputy chiefs of UNICEF and WFP.

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