WRITER: ARPITA HAZARIKA
The
remains of a burned Rohingya village near Maungdaw, north of Rakhine State,
Myanmar, in this Sept 27, 2017 file photo. Reuters
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At least two mortar
shells fired by Myanmar into Bangladesh territory on Sept 3 were illegal under
international law.
The event occurred five
days after Bangladeshi officials summoned Myanmar's ambassador in Dhaka and
protested over Myanmar's firing of two deadly shells at the same location on
Aug 28.
According to the police
investigation centre at Ghumdum in the hill area of Bandarban, at least two
fighter jets flew over the Bangladesh border firing at least eight rounds,
while two military helicopters fired more than 30 shells.
Bangladesh has
reiterated its "deep concern" over Myanmar's violation of an air
border agreement.
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In addition to suppressing internal rebels (the Arakan Army), the presence of
the Myanmar army on the border is again raising fears of Rohingya's
infiltration into Bangladesh.There have been allegations of inaction to deport
the remaining Rohingya staying in the country through manoeuvring. In this
situation, residents have announced new steps to prevent intrusions.
For the past few days,
there has been ongoing conflict in Rakhine State, an area bordering Bangladesh
and India in Myanmar, which is affecting neighbouring countries as
well. The residents of Ghumdum, and the Tambru border areas of Bandarban
are panicking. Some people took refuge in India.
As the Myanmar army is
fighting the Arakan Army in Rakhine, the Myanmar army has started a major
military operation against the rebel groups in Kayah, Kain and Chin states.The
military forces of that country are also using helicopters and airplanes in
this war.
The military junta wants
to hold elections in Myanmar in August 2023. Before that they want to establish
their complete control over Rakhine and other states.
Rakhine State is
particularly important to them, as the state shares a border with Bangladesh
and India. Where conflict is taking place, that too is just across the border
in Bangladesh.
As a result, Bangladeshi
residents of the border area are terrified of the conflict there. Four and a
half thousand Rohingya have been living on the Tambru border line in
Naikshatchari for the past few years, where this violence is occurring.
Due to the violence, there are fears they will move into Bangladesh.
It has been alleged that
there is a plot to move the remaining Rohingya in Myanmar to Bangladesh.
As of August 2017, the
Myanmar Army has been flying warplanes and helicopters along the border of
Bangladesh. Mortar shells and bullets have been fired into Bangladesh.Locals
complain that this is Myanmar's strategy to cause the infiltration of Rohingya
into the country.
The two shells fired on
Aug 28 landed half a kilometre inside the Tambru border but did not do any
damage,in contrast to the two shells fired on Sept 3 at Tambru on the Ghumdum
border, which burst about 120 metres inside Bangladeshi territory.
We express our outrage
at Myanmar's flagrant disregard for international law, demonstrated by its
twice-weekly firing of deadlyshells into Bangladesh despite previous complaints
following the initial breach on Aug 28.
Usually, when an
operation is carried out near the border, a warning is given if there is a
relationship between the two states.But no such information was given to
Bangladesh. It is a violation of international norms not to inform Bangladesh
before conducting operations against Arakan.
But this is not
Myanmar's first offence against international law. In September 2017, shortly
after launching a genocide against the Rohingya and driving a sizeable number
of them out of its Rakhine state and into Bangladesh, it repeatedly violated
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Additionally, it
continued to instill fear in Rakhine State so that none of the 1.2 million
Rohingya who are currently seeking refuge in Bangladesh would agree to go back
to their home country.
Such activities pose a
serious threat to the safety and undermines a sustainable process of Rohingya
repatriation.
It appears that
Bangladesh, which has about 165 million people, or about three times as many as
Myanmar, is the target of such violations of international law by the
military-run Myanmar, which has a poor reputation among other states
worldwide.
This could be because
Bangladesh has an international reputation in terms of politics and strategy as
a peaceful country.
Yet Myanmar must
understand that Bangladesh is also a militarily capable country. If Myanmar
continues to pursue an offensive strategy, Bangladesh can take a defensive
approach along the border.This could destabilise the whole region.
Although Bangladeshi
officials claim to be closely monitoring events, the incident is sufficient to
raise questions about Bangladesh's security and territorial integrity.
On Sunday, Bangladesh
reaffirmed its "grave concern" about recent incidents including
mortar shelling from Myanmar, indiscriminate aerial firing in the border
regions, and violations of airspace.
The Bangladeshi foreign
ministry protested against the recent incidents along the Bangladesh-Myanmar
border and summoned Myanmar's Ambassador to Bangladesh Aung Kyaw Moe.
The ministry had called
the envoy three times in a little over a week to express its deep-rooted
concerns.
The circumstances call
for Bangladeshi authorities to make stern diplomatic objections over Myanmar's
behavior and to take necessary steps to prevent similar incidents from
happening in the future.
Arpita Hazarika is a researcher at Gauhati University, in Assam, India.
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