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The members of Myanmar armed forces will be sent back home in the next week or once the sea calms
Published : 03 Apr 2024, 02:28 AM
Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud says measures are being taken to bring back 170 Bangladeshis trapped in Myanmar and send back 180 Myanmar security forces personnel who fled into Bangladesh amid ongoing conflict.
Hasan said a total of 177 members of Myanmar’s Border Guard Police (BGP) and later three of their army personnel took refuge in Bangladesh. The Myanmar government agreed to take them back during a "discussion with us", he added.
“They proposed a sea route and we expected to send them back by this week. But as the sea is not favourable, they will be sent back in the next week or when the sea is calm.”
“The Myanmar side also responded positively in our proposal to bring back 170 Bangladeshis who are stranded there.”
The conflict between the army and the rebel groups in Myanmar has been spilling over for a long time and affecting the border areas of Bangladesh. Mortar shells and bullets from across the border also resulted in casualties.
Previously, on Feb 16, the government facilitated the return of 330 individuals, including Myanmar border guards and armed forces personnel who had fled the conflict in Rakhine state.
The group comprised 302 members of the BGP, four of their family members, two army personnel, 18 immigration staff, and four civilians.
Later, on Mar 11, another 179 members of the BGP fled into Bangladesh through the Jamchhari border in Naikhongchhari and were taken in by the BGB. Efforts to repatriate them to Myanmar are ongoing.
In addition to the return of these 180 soldiers, the foreign minister confirmed the repatriation of 170 Bangladeshis from Myanmar on Tuesday.
About 170 Bangladeshis have been stranded in Myanmar. Some of them are in jail and some are facing trial. Some of them were arrested after crossing the Myanmar border while fishing, the foreign ministry’s Myanmar wing said.
