Bangladesh has raised a ‘serious objection’ to tagging Myanmar’s own terrorists as ‘Bengali terrorists’, and asked its envoy here to convey the message to Myanmar authorities.
Bangladesh has also proposed to go for a joint operation against militants under any tag-name or any other force on both sides—Bangladesh and Myanmar—of the border, if necessary. Director General (South East Asia wing) at the Ministry Manjurul Karim Khan Chowdhury called Charge d’ Affaires of Myanmar Embassy in Dhaka Aung Myint at his office on Monday and conveyed these two specific messages.
“We’ve a serious objection to using Bengali terrorists by Myanmar authorities after the recent incidents,” a senior official told UNB saying it was a sort of interaction between both sides suggesting not to term it ‘summon’. Following its policy of ‘zero tolerance’ towards violent extremism and terrorism of any form and manifestation, Bangladesh also assured Myanmar of its continued cooperation in dealing with these challenges.
Earlier on Saturday, the Foreign Ministry summoned the Myanmar envoy in Dhaka and expressed ‘serious concern’ over the recent happenings, including the fresh entry of Myanmar nationals into Bangladesh.
Thousands of unarmed civilians, including women, children and elderly people from the Rakhine State, have assembled close to the border and are making attempts to enter Bangladesh.
Bangladesh recalled the influx of Myanmar nationals into Bangladesh due to similar military operations in the aftermath of terrorist attacks on October 9 last year that resulted in about 87,000 of civilians crossing over to Bangladesh till July 31. Bangladesh has expressed ‘serious concern’ at the possibility of recurrence of such a situation as Bangladesh already hosts about four hundred thousand of Myanmar nationals, said the Foreign Ministry sources. Bangladesh has been urging the Myanmar authorities to address the underlying root cause of the protracted problem through a comprehensive and inclusive approach.
Bangladesh stressed the need for respecting the state responsibility to protect its civilian population and urged Myanmar to ensure appropriate protection and shelter for the unarmed civilians, especially the vulnerable segments of the population such as women, children and elderly people.
Bangladesh earlier pointed out that the terrorist attack and clashes occurred at a time when the Rakhine Advisory Commission, popularly known as Kofi Annan Commission, made recommendations towards durable solution for the Rakhine State. Over 90 people were killed as militants besieged border posts in northern Rakhine State of Myanmar on Friday. The attack triggered a fresh influx of refugees towards Bangladesh.
The government has directed the local administration in Cox’s Bazar to employ its best efforts to restrict the entry of fresh Rohingyas into the country saying that not a single person will be allowed in the name of ‘humanity’, UNB’s Cox’s Bazar Correspondent reports.
