[🇧🇩] Insurgencies in Myanmar. Implications for Bangladesh

[Saif]

16 more Myanmar troops enter Bangladesh

At least 16 more Myanmar Border Guard Police and army personnel have sought shelter to the Bangladesh authorities after crossing the international border last couple of days amid...

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16 more Myanmar troops enter Bangladesh
Staff Correspondent 16 April, 2024, 00:12

File photo

At least 16 more Myanmar Border Guard Police and army personnel have sought shelter to the Bangladesh authorities after crossing the international border last couple of days amid the on-going conflict between the Myanmar's military junta and ethnic Arakan Army.

Of them, two members of the Myanmar army crossed the border at Naikhyangchhari in Bandarban, while the rest of them crossed Tekhnaf in Cox's Bazar until early hours of Monday.

All of them were taken to the Border Guard Bangladesh custody in Naikhyangchhari, said Lieutenant Colonel Md Mahiuddin Ahmed, commanding officer of the Teknaf BGB

They entered through the Kharangkhali border in Teknaf, with arms and ammunition, in two phases, he said, adding that the BGB seized their weapons and took them into custody. Two came with wounds and were put under treatment.

Since March 11, at least 196 Myanmar soldiers and border force members crossed the border and sought shelter to the Bangladesh authorities.

On February 15, 330 Myanmar nationals, including 302 BGP officials and four of their family members, two army members, 18 immigration members, and four civilians, entered Bangladesh and were returned to their country later.​

 

[Saif]

In a rebel-held Myanmar town, fragile unity pushes junta to brink

Myawaddy, a critical trading post in Myanmar that rebel forces seized from the ruling junta last week, offers a glimpse of dynamics playing out across the Southeast Asian country as its vaunted military reels from battlefield losses...

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In a rebel-held Myanmar town, fragile unity pushes junta to brink
New age Desk 18 April, 2024, 23:25

Myawaddy, a critical trading post in Myanmar that rebel forces seized from the ruling junta last week, offers a glimpse of dynamics playing out across the Southeast Asian country as its vaunted military reels from battlefield losses, reports Yahoo News Canada.

At the border town's outskirts, the site of the most intense fighting, abandoned homes sat next to buildings pockmarked with bullet holes, gas stations damaged by blasts and structures flattened by airstrikes, Reuters reporters saw on a visit this week.

Rebels who fought against junta troops in Myawaddy described a demoralised military that was unwilling to hold its ground.

'We managed to seize three bases and control the area in a very short period of time,' said Saw Kaw, a commander of a rebel unit involved in the battle for Myawaddy. 'Then, they fled.'

Guards from ethnic militias until recently loyal to the military administration roamed streets in the town — normally a conduit for over $1 billion of annual border trade with nearby Thailand. Those fighters stood aside when forces led by the Karen National Union laid siege in early April.

Reuters gained rare access to rebel-held territory on Monday and interviewed seven resistance officials for this story, alongside three Thai officials with detailed knowledge of the conflict and four security analysts.

They provided insight into the delicate diplomacy between armed groups with longstanding rivalries as they seek to hold key population centres and keep the junta they want to topple on the backfoot.

The fall of Myawaddy means that Myanmar's two most important land border crossings are in resistance hands, after the rebels last year claimed control of Muse, near the Chinese border.

Rebel successes have now cut off the cash-strapped junta from almost all the country's major land borders, with the economy in free-fall and poverty doubling since 2017, according to UN data.

The Thailand-based Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar think-tank said in an estimate after Myawaddy's fall that the junta has been deprived of 60 per cent of land-based customs revenue.

It leaves the junta, which has failed to repel any major rebel offensive since October, in its weakest position since its 2021 coup against Aung San Suu Kyi's elected civilian government, according to analysts.

Neighbours such as Thailand, who were previously focused on engaging the junta, have started to rethink their stance on the conflict.

Thai vice foreign minister Sihask Phuangketkeow told Reuters on Wednesday that Thai security officials have been in communication with the KNU and other groups and that they were 'open to more dialogue,' particularly on humanitarian issues.

'We don't blindly side with the Myanmar military but because we want peace we have to talk to them,' he said.

A junta spokesperson did not respond to calls from Reuters seeking comment.

Junta chief General Min Aung Hlaing has accused rebel groups of seeking to undermine Myanmar's unity through armed insurgency and his government has called resistance fighters 'terrorists.'

The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army and Karen National Army, the forces still patrolling parts of Myawaddy and its vicinity even after they abandoned the junta, did not return requests for comment. The groups have not pledged loyalty to the resistance.

At the western edge of Myawaddy, Colonel Nadah Htoo, a senior commander of Brigade 6 of the KNU's armed wing, one of Myanmar's oldest ethnic fighting forces, was thinking about next steps after leading the patchwork of resistance fighters that defeated the army in roughly a week.

Surrounded by armed guards as he chewed betel leaves and peered over his Louis Vuitton sunglasses, Nadah Htoo described on-going talks with other ethnic armed groups about fighting the junta locally. Reuters has also reported that recent coordination between rebel armies in other parts of Myanmar has taken place at an unprecedented level.

For decades, the country of 55 million has been riven by insurgencies along its borderlands, where some two dozen ethnic armed groups operate. Many of them are part of, or supporting, the resistance.

Nadah Htoo and another resistance official acknowledged the challenges of maintaining cooperation over the course of what both expect will be a difficult war against a better-armed military.

'We have to constantly coordinate so there won't be any mistake,' the colonel told Reuters. He declined to be photographed or filmed until the operation ended, citing security concerns.

In Myawaddy, Reuters observed at least three armed groups coordinating to maintain control, reflecting recent rare cooperation among rebel forces that share a common enemy in the junta but otherwise have different interests.

Most of the rebels who took Myawaddy were ethnic Karen, though they fought along some ethnic Burman members of the national resistance, said rebel commander Saw Kaw.

'The first thing (is that) we don't kill each other,' said spokesman Saw Taw Nee of tensions between his KNU and other ethnic Karen groups that were allied to the junta until this month. 'And then we start from that.'

Last October, three rebel groups, including the powerful Arakan Army, led Operation 1027, a major offensive that saw the resistance take wide swathes of military-controlled areas along the border with China.

'After 1027, we saw the AA in Arakan starting to push. When the AA eased, then we decided to push,' said KNU's Nadah Htoo, describing how different rebel groups were hitting the military with successive offensives across multiple areas.

The junta 'is fighting the war on too many fronts,' said Lalita Hanwong, an assistant professor at Thailand's Kasetsart University.

'If you look back from the beginning of Operation 1027, the towns that the resistance forces seized have never been regained.'

In the battle for Myawaddy, KNU-led forces encircled the town and pushed the local junta administration to the point of collapse before taking over, said Nadah Htoo.​

 

[Saif]

Create right conditions for Rohingya repatriation: G7

Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) countries have stressed the need to create conditions for the voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable return of all Rohingya refugees and displaced persons to Myanmar

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Create right conditions for Rohingya repatriation: G7

Photo: Collected

Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) countries have stressed the need to create conditions for the voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable return of all Rohingya refugees and displaced persons to Myanmar.

They also called for justice and accountability for atrocities committed against Rohingyas and other ethnic communities in Myanmar.

They, in a joint statement, also reiterated their call on all states to prevent or cease the flow of arms and other dual-use materials, including jet fuel, into Myanmar.

They urged the Myanmar military to immediately cease any violence, release all prisoners arbitrarily detained including the democratically elected leaders and establish an inclusive dialogue with all stakeholders to restore the path towards a meaningful and durable democratic process.

"We also reiterate our call on the Myanmar military to respect human rights and international humanitarian law, to desist from any form of forced labour and to allow prompt, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to all displaced persons and people in need," said the G7 foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and the High Representative of the European Union in their statement issued by the US Department of State on Friday.

They will continue to support Asean's efforts to promote a credible and inclusive process to achieve the swift implementation of the Five-Point Consensus.

"We highlight the importance of a comprehensive implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 2669 (2022) and support the UN's further engagement in the crisis, including through the leadership of the newly appointed UN Special Envoy on Myanmar and through the designation of a Resident Coordinator in country," said the G7 countries, noting that accountability for serious crimes committed in Myanmar remains essential.

The G7 countries reiterated their strong condemnation of the military coup in Myanmar and reaffirm our support and solidarity with the people of Myanmar in their quest for peace, freedom, and democracy.

The continuing attacks by the military destroying civilian infrastructure (including homes, schools, places of worship and hospitals), the repeated and serious violations of human rights and the alarming humanitarian situation – which particularly affect those in most vulnerable situations, including children, women and members of minority religious and ethnic groups – are unacceptable.

"We also condemn the recent implementation of the 2010 conscription law by the military regime," they said.

The forced recruitment of young people can only lead to further violence and trigger a massive exodus to neighbouring countries, according to the joint statement.​

 

[Saif]

24 more Myanmar troops enter Bangladesh

At least 24 more personnel of Myanmar’s Border Guard Police crossed international borders with firearms and ammunition and sought shelter in Bangladesh amid...

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24 more Myanmar troops enter Bangladesh
Staff Correspondent 19 April, 2024, 11:44

At least 24 more personnel of Myanmar's Border Guard Police crossed international borders with firearms and ammunition and sought shelter in Bangladesh amid continued fighting between Myanmar junta forces and ethnic rebel group Arakan Army between Thursday night and Friday evening, officials said.

Border Guard Bangladesh public relations officer Shariful Islam said that a total of 285 Myanmar personnel had taken shelter in Bangladesh since March 11.

All but 13 personnel entered through land borders in Bandarban and Cox's Bazar, officials from the bordering areas said.

The 13 personnel sought assistance from the Bangladesh Coast Guard on the Naf River on Thursday night and were later taken into custody of BGB authorities.

Later on Friday evening, the BGB headquarters said 11 others sought shelters crossing the Jhimonbkhali and Hatimarajhiri borders.

Bangladesh border guard officials told New Age that they had learned that a large number of soldiers were dismantled following a clash with the Arakan Army, and small groups were trying to sneak into Bangladeshi territories to save their lives with the hope of repatriation to their homeland soon.

A senior BGB official said that they had disarmed them and taken them to safe custody, where they would be quizzed for their ranks and files in the force they belong to.

A home ministry official said they were yet to finalise the repatriation date as the Myanmar soldiers kept coming.

In early February, 330 members of Myanmar security forces, including BGP, army personnel, and immigration officials, took shelter in Bangladesh.

On February 15, they were handed over to the Border Guard Police of Myanmar amid tight security.

Thailand-based news portal The Irrawaddy reported this week that the junta was now facing its most serious threat after losing control of strategic border regions adjacent to India, China, and Bangladesh.

Beijing, meanwhile, has urged all warring parties in Myanmar to halt hostilities and begin peace talks after escalating clashes saw the military regime lose more territory, including another major border town last week.

The message came as Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian addressed inquiries on recent developments in Myanmar, including the fall of Myawaddy, at a press briefing on Tuesday.​

 

[Saif]

Myanmar army, BGP personnel will be repatriated Monday: FM

Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud has said the government has finalised plans for the second phase of repatriation of Myanmar’s Border Guard Police and army personnel who fled the conflict between junta forces and armed insurgents. “Many members of the BGP and the army have sought refuge i

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Myanmar army, BGP personnel will be repatriated Monday: FM
Hasan Mahmud says 150 Bangladeshi citizens stranded in Myanmar will return by ship
BDNEWS24.COM
Published :
Apr 19, 2024 20:47
Updated :
Apr 19, 2024 20:47

Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud has said the government has finalised plans for the second phase of repatriation of Myanmar's Border Guard Police and army personnel who fled the conflict between junta forces and armed insurgents.

"Many members of the BGP and the army have sought refuge in Bangladesh, including some who arrived this morning," he told reporters at the foreign ministry on Friday.

"So far, a total of 285 individuals have taken shelter in our country. We are currently negotiating with them for their return. We have granted clearance for Myanmar to take them back by ship on April 22."

"However, whether they can be transported on April 22 depends on the sea and overall situation there. Myanmar has agreed to their repatriation, and they will be returned via waterways, " Hasan added.

He added that 150 Bangladeshi citizens stranded in Myanmar will return onboard ships arranged for the repatriation.

On Feb 15, the government repatriated a total of 330 individuals, including members of Myanmar's border guards and armed forces, who had fled the conflict in Rakhine State.

The group included 302 BGP personnel, four of their family members, two army men, 18 immigration officials and four civilians.​