Panic grips Rohingya living in no-man's land

BD protests Myanmar's claim of rebels' existence

January 10, 2019 00:00:00

BANDARBAN, Jan 09 (AFP): Panic is gripping thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees living in no-man's land on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border, with daily clashes between Myanmar security forces and ethnic Rakhine insurgents.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar since a military crackdown started in 2017 -- most to sprawling refugee camps in Bangladesh-but many have been living in limbo on the border, unwilling to enter the camps or return home.

They are now caught on the sidelines of fighting between Myanmar troops and the Arakan Army, a militant group seeking more autonomy for western Rakhine state's Buddhist-majority population.

"Heavy fighting is going on between the government troops and Arakan Army inside Myanmar," Rohingya leader Dil Mohammad told AFP.

Myanmar troops last week set up security camps and bunkers along the border after fighting saw 13 police killed.

Meanwhile, UNB adds: Dhaka strongly protested the remarks by the spokesperson of Myanmar President's Office claiming the existence of two Arakan Army bases and three ARSA bases in Bangladesh, according to a press statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

The MoFA statement was issued on Wednesday with regard to some media reports based on remarks by the spokesperson of Myanmar President's Office on January 07.

"Bangladesh strongly protests such baseless and provocative accusations. The current clashes are the outcome of Myanmar's own political and social dilemma," the ministry says.

It says, "As such, it'll be highly appreciated by the government of Bangladesh if the Myanmar government doesn't make any endeavour to associate Bangladesh with her internal political puzzle."

"The allegations are totally fake and baseless. It's not possible to operate terrorist bases anywhere in Bangladesh because of high alertness and effective preventive measures by security forces in the line with "zero tolerance policy" of the present government of Bangladesh under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," reads the statement.