Staff Reporter :
Myanmar is going to build new checkpoints and construct fence along its border with Bangladesh in volatile Rakhine state.
The Home Ministry of the country told its parliament about the said initiatives on Thursday, reports the Voice of America (VOA).
Khin Saw Wai, a member of parliament from Rakhine state who pushed for the new security measures, told VOA’s Burmese service that people from Bangladesh are coming into Burma at will because there is not enough security along the border.
“Although we have a fence at the western door between Bangladesh and our Maung Daw region [Rakhine State], this cannot stop illegal entry into the country. The Bengali population has increased. We have only seen illegal entering and no effective system to stop it. That is why we want the government to control this situation.
I have submitted a proposal to increase security for the Rakhine region in parliament. Now I read in the news that there will be 15 more security gates at the border, but I don’t know where exactly they will be built. Nonetheless, as a person who proposed this at the parliament, I hope this will be a more effective way of controlling the border situation,” said Khin Saw Wai.
Government spokesman Ye Htut confirmed that new security measures were being planned, but said those seeking details should talk with local officials in Rakhine.
“I only know that there have been some preparations for security in Rakhine state. Since this measure is being undertaken by the Rakhine government, it is best to ask the information department of the local government. Unlike in the past, the central government does not control everything. Local government
is doing its own for the security and they are working together with police forces there,” said Ye Htut.
Rakhine security officials have not returned VOA’s request for comment.
Buddhist-Muslim violence erupted in Rakhine state in 2012 and has since spread to other parts of the country. The sectarian fighting has killed at least 240 people and displaced 140,000 others, mainly Rohingya Muslims, who are called Bengali by the Burmese government.
Myanmar’s government refuses to officially recognize the Rohingya, saying members of any officially recognized minority must be able to prove their ancestors lived in this country before the British invaded Rakhine in 1823.
Many Rohingya Muslims say their ancestors have lived in Myanmar for generations, but the impoverished minority group lacks the documentation to prove it.
Talks between Myanmar President Thein Sein and Bangladesh’s prime minister Sheikh Hasina on the sidelines of a regional meeting last month produced no tangible agreement on the Rohingya issue.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh has been facing severe problem centering Rohingya issue when a parliamentary watchdog committee had expressed concern over the growing complexities in different Middle Eastern countries created by Rohingya people who went to the Gulf States in search of jobs availing Bangladeshi passports in illegal way.
Officials said several lakhs of uprooted Rohingyas, men, women and children, have taken shelter in southeastern part of Bangladesh. Over 200,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh following the ‘Nagamin’ [Dragon King] operation of the Myanmar army in 1978. A new wave of over a quarter of a million Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh during 1991-92.
The Myanmar refugees and undocumented nationals are posing a serious threat to the security of Bangladesh through their involvement in crimes, like drug and human trafficking, smuggling, robbery and other organised crimes.
Besides, about 90 per cent of the low skilled labourers and staff employed in local hotels, motels, ports and small business are all of Rohingya origin. They also work as rickshaw pullers and day labourers. As a result, Bangladeshi workers are losing their jobs.
Apart from it, the Rohingya refugees are adding extra pressure on the existing crisis of the land and forests in the Cox’s Bazar region with losing huge reserve forest for providing land to the refugees for construction of their shelter.
Moreover, refugees and undocumented Myanmar nationals are regularly cutting off valuable trees and destroying woods in the reserve forests in the Bandarban and Cox’s’ Bazar areas causing serious harm to Bangladesh’s environment and bio-diversity.
