On May 4 and 5, 128 members of Myanmar’s Border Guard Police (BGP) took shelter in Bangladesh through the Teknaf border in Cox’s Bazar. This is not the first time, for only weeks ago, on April 25, Bangladesh repatriated 288 BGP and army personnel who had taken refuge in Bangladesh. Earlier this year also, 330 Myanmar nationals, including BGP members, military personnel, customs officials, and other officials, had taken shelter in Bangladesh. They were sent back on February 15.
This raises the question that why BGP and Myanmar army troops seek refuge in Bangladesh. The answer however lies in the present situation of Myanmar. The military is losing a string of military battles in the wake of “Operation 1027“. The offensive in northern Shan State has yielded remarkable military and political achievements, which were cemented by a ceasefire struck in January. Since then, Rakhine State has come under more attention in the conflict.
Should the junta’s defeats in northern Shan State be deemed as its gravest blow since the coup of 2021, the way it fared against the Arakan Army (AA) in the Rakhine front may have a significant impact on the regime’s ability to survive. The same military who vowed to exterminate the AA from Rakhine State in 2018, 2019, and 2020 is now on the verge of losing control of almost the whole of Rakhine.
As on April, AA troops has seized control of 10 towns in Rakhine, including Rathedaung, Taung Pyo Lee, Paletwa, Pauktaw, Minbya, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Myebon, Ponnagyun, and Ramree from the military. The AA now controls more than 187 junta outposts and bases, including 16 major command centres. At least seven senior military commanders were assassinated, and six others were kidnapped. Following this heavy onslaught by the AA, Army and BGP members are forced to retreat to Bangladesh in search of safety.
Why does Bangladesh continue to provide them with refuge? Bangladesh’s foreign policy, which is based on “friendship to all and malice towards none,” holds the key to the answer. Bangladesh does not meddle in Myanmar’s domestic affairs and views Myanmar as a friend like other nations. As there is a state-to-state relationship and the Myanmar military has state authority, Bangladesh provides shelter to Myanmar nationals.
Myanmar needs to exercise caution when interacting with Bangladesh and acknowledge the price of friendship. Myanmar should repatriate all Rohingya to their homeland in the same manner that its authorities worked with Bangladesh to facilitate the repatriation of 173 Bangladeshi nationals from Myanmar and more than 600 members of the BGP and Myanmar army from Bangladesh.
Critics counter that Bangladesh is hardly still regarded as Myanmar’s buddy. Numerous problems exist: Let us start with the Rohingya situation. The director of the UN agency for human rights described the Myanmar military’s ruthless assault on the Rohingya communities as “acts of horrific barbarity,” “possible acts of genocide,” and “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing” in 2017. In order to escape their oppressive situation, more than a million Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh.
Stepping into the 7th year, Myanmar hasn’t taken back even a single Rohingya. Bangladesh seems solely carrying the burden of this huge refugee alone. The country is spending $1.22 billion every year for the Rohingya from her own limited resources. Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar is now hosting the largest refugee camp in the world, with one of the largest humanitarian operations in terms of scale and dimensions.
Additionally, the nation has never received a sizable amount of funding for Rohingya refugees. Instead, the amount of support has decreased with time. While donors only contributed 60 percent of the required cash in 2020, down from approximately 72 percent to 75 percent two years earlier, Bangladesh received roughly 51.4 percent in 2023 and around 49 percent in 2022.
Bangladesh, providing a unique example of humanity, took care of everyone. By accepting up to a million Rohingya refugees, a lower-middle-class country showed the deepest empathy and comprehension for human misery. To pay for the expenses and impacts on its economy, society, and environment, the nation is compelled to use a sizable percentage of its limited resources.
Second, as most of the Rohingya are sheltered at Cox’s Bazar, which provides a strategic route for smuggling, Bangladesh has to deal with the threat that the bordering Rohingyas camps can be turned into a breeding place for criminalities along with a growing concern over the recruitment of refugees by the extremist networks which could fuel militancy not only in Bangladesh but also across the whole Indo-Pacific region.
Third, Bangladesh is dealing with the threats to the foreign labour market, remittances, and relations. Many unregistered Myanmar nationals went to other countries with the host country’s fake passports or identity cards and were involved in different crimes that tarnish the image of the host countries.
In the middle of all of this, Bangladesh continues to support people seeking safety from Myanmar, providing a unique example of human kindness and compassion. But what does Myanmar do, in contrast? An inhumane, unacceptable, and unfriendly example of behaviour is seen when the Myanmar navy fires rounds at Bangladeshi fishermen; artillery and bullets land on Bangladeshi soil, killing and injuring individuals.
Myanmar needs to exercise caution when interacting with Bangladesh and acknowledge the price of friendship. Myanmar should repatriate all Rohingya to their homeland in the same manner that its authorities worked with Bangladesh to facilitate the repatriation of 173 Bangladeshi nationals from Myanmar and more than 600 members of the BGP and Myanmar army from Bangladesh.
