Horrific battle sounds from Myanmar impede livelihoods of Rohingya, locals in Bangladesh border region
The desire of Rohingya refugees to return to their home country Myanmar is being muffled by incessant sounds of gunshots and shelling in a remote southeastern bordering area of Bangladesh, where some 4,500 of them have been living for more than five years.
While speaking with Dil Mohammad, a Rohingya community leader in the no man's land of Naikhongchari sub-district on the Myanmar border, on Friday, an Anadolu Agency team heard six horrifying mortar rounds fired from across the border in less than 30 minutes, which caused panic.
“We are always in hypertension now due to the escalating gun battle between the Myanmar Army and the country’s rebel faction, Arakan Army. Such unrest in our homeland (Myanmar’s Rakhine State) must have an impact on our repatriation process,” Mohammad expressed concern.
A combination of hills covered in green trees, large swaths of agricultural lands with seasonal crops, and several lakes full of fresh hilly and rain waters keep Naikhongchari naturally beautiful round the year.
During the Rohingya influx in Bangladesh in Aug. 2017, over 4,500 members of the persecuted community set up makeshift tents across the border with Myanmar, hoping to remain peaceful until their dignified repatriation.
However, the entire region has turned into a hotbed of panic due to the horrifying sounds of shelling and gunfire from neighboring Myanmar for more than a month.
In the deadliest battle on the night of Sept. 16, a Rohingya youth was killed and five others were injured, while the panic also gripped more than 30,000 Bangladeshi nationals living in the bordering region because of the frequent trans-border shelling and gun bullets fired by the Myanmar Army.
Local claims that agriculture is their primary livelihood, as well as other sources of income, are being severely disturbed.
Rupla Dhar, 50, is a Gumdhum borderline resident who lives in constant fear of being hit by a stray bullet or shell fired from across the border. He owns some open croplands near the border between Bangladesh and Myanmar.
“I, along with some other farmers, cultivate this land for livelihood. But we can’t do our work very often because of the panicky sounds of mortar shelling and gun fighting inside Myanmar from a very short distance,” Dhar told Anadolu Agency, adding that they are desperately trying to cope with the situation.
He added that they often hire day laborers for cultivation. "However, it has almost become a routine practice that as soon as they begin working in the field, horrific sounds of shelling and firing start to emanate from Myanmar. They abandon the field and do not work. But, we pay them for the entire day's work."
Echoing almost the same views, another resident of the area and former local government chairman of Naikhongchari, Toslim Iqbal Chowdhury, told the Turkish leading news agency that the deteriorating unrest in Myanmar near the Bangladeshi border has a huge adverse impact on the economy of the needy local people.
“Out of fear, our people often stay at home at night, and some shift to relatives in other areas. It should be solved immediately in order to restore normalcy in the area,” Chowdhury noted.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina informed global leaders Thursday night at a high-profile meeting in New York that intensifying fighting inside Myanmar would jeopardize the process of sustainable Rohingya repatriation.
She also warned that global leaders' attention is shifting away from the humanitarian needs and support of nearly 1.2 million Rohingya living in refugee camps in Cox's Bazar and the remote island of Bhasan Char in the Bay of Bengal's southern sea.
High alert
The deputy commissioner of the border district of Bandarban, Yasmin Parvin Tibriji, told Anadolu Agency that Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) is fully alert on the frontlines around the clock to avert any untoward incident.
"We have discussed the issue with the local administration, law enforcement, the BGB, and other relevant authorities." "We have also informed the relevant government authorities," Tibriji said.
She added that as per the government's directives, they have enlisted all borderline people so that they could be relocated in the case of an emergency.
Bangladesh's Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has also told journalists on several occasions that the country will try to resolve the crisis through diplomatic negotiations with the neighboring country, while Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan has vowed to go to the United Nations if diplomatic efforts fail.
Comments
Post a Comment