Dhaka protests as Myanmar helicopters violate Bangladesh airspace

Bangladesh has lodged a “strong protest” with the Myanmar embassy in Dhaka after Burmese helicopters violated airspace near southern Ukhia where Rohingya people fleeing violence in Rakhine State have taken shelter.

The foreign ministry on Friday said it lodged the protest in a ‘diplomatic note’ sent to the embassy after the morning incidents in which “Myanmar helicopters violated Bangladesh’s airspace near Ukhia on three occasions”.

Those were “repeated instances”, the foreign ministry said as it noted such violations on Aug 27 and Aug 28.

The ministry in the diplomatic note stressed that these instances of “incursion into Bangladesh air space by Myanmar helicopters run contrary to the good neighbourly relations and could lead to unwarranted situation”.

Rohingya refugees stand in the way of bilateral relations between the countries as Bangladesh has been giving them humanitarian shelter for decades, but Myanmar denies them citizenship.

Nearly 38,000 new Myanmar people entered Bangladesh in the last seven days after the fresh violence.

The foreign ministry said while Bangladesh has been cooperating with Myanmar in the security sector, such instances of “violation of sovereignty may affect the existing understanding and cooperation between the two countries”.

Bangladesh also demanded that Myanmar take “immediate” measures to prevent recurrence of such incursion in future.