In Maungdaw, controlling COVID-19 and border seen as intertwined

By Kyaw Myo Aung 12 Jun 2020

Kyaw Myo Aung | DMG           
12 June, Maungdaw 

Concerns are growing about a perceived illegal inflow of people to Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township from Bangladesh as the number of coronavirus cases at the refugee camps in the neighbouring country continues to rise. 

On May 30, five family members who lived in Bangladesh’s Thankharli refugee camp arrived back to Ushaekya village in Maungdaw Township, the village administrator Siyarsalan told the DMG on June 3. They are being quarantined at the Hla Phoe Khaung makeshift reception camp after one man among them tested positive for COVID-19. 

With more than 700,000 Muslims from Arakan State now living in refugee camps in Bangladesh and the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the camps at 35 as of June 10 and expected to rise precipitously, the Myanmar-Bangladesh border is looking increasingly susceptible to illicit crossings these days. 

Arakan State lawmaker U Tun Aung Thein from Buthidaung Township said: “The illegal entry of people shows the lack of border security though there are about eight border security battalions in Maungdaw District.” 

“An influx of people from the refugee camps in the neighbouring country may lead to the spread of the virus ... The border security is of great importance,” he added. 

A Muslim and a Hindu illegally entered Maungdaw Township on June 4 and two Muslims followed suit on June 5, according to the Maungdaw District General Administration Department. 

Locals want authorities to tighten border security to cut off the illegal re-entry of refugees. 

“We called on MPs to be cautious about the border fence since the spread of the virus,” said Ko Maung Win Thein, a local from Maungdaw. “But the region sees illegal entries. A returnee tested positive for the virus. We are worrying a lot.” 

Eight people illegally entered Buthidaung Township and were reported on June 5. They are under quarantine at a mosque in Buthidaung town, according to U Shwe Hla Aung, the Buthidaung Township administrator. 

U Soe Aung, the Maungdaw District Deputy Commissioner, said: “Currently, the department is working to deploy more border security forces and to arrest the brokers who illegally send the refugees back to Arakan State.

 “We are making arrangements to arrest human traffickers in cooperation with Border Guard Police. We will increase security deployments and attempt to arrest human traffickers,” he added. 

U Aung Kyaw Nyunt, a town elder from Maungdaw, said: “There should not be illegal entry when security forces are deployed along the border. The authorities did not pay attention to the warnings by locals. There is a lot of corruption and bribery.” 

Authorities are educating people about COVID-19 in Maungdaw. But virus preventive measures will not succeed as long as there are illegal entries and the border trade camps remain open, say critics of current border control efforts. 

Refugee camps in Bangaldesh’s Cox’s Bazar area are locked down until June 20 and some were recently declared “red zones”, considered at high risk for coronavirus contagion. 

Meanwhile, the number of patients who have tested positive for coronavirus has reportedly reached five in Maungdaw. So far there have been seven confirmed COVID-19 cases in Arakan State; one each in Thandwe and Taungup townships, and the five in Maungdaw.