MPs urge strong security at Myanmar-Bangladesh border fence

By Min Tun 29 Sep 2019

Min Tun | DMG
September 29, Sittwe

U Tun Aung Thein, Pyithu Hluttaw member from Buthidaung Township, urged the security forces to guard the border fence between Arakan State and Bangladesh carefully because Muslim people in Bangladesh are entering Arakan State illegally.

“Although we have border guard troops along the border fence, Muslim people got through the fence. We heard that two families entered Myanmar and a terrorist is among their group. We heard that the authorities found out only after they entered [Myanmar]. This shows why it is important to make our border fence better,” he said.

On September 22, according to a report by the locals, Myanmar security forces arrested a Muslim in Maungdaw who allegedly entered Myanmar illegally from a refugee camp in Bangladesh. The incident has made residents in Maungdaw worried about their security.

U Maung Ohn, Pyithu Hluttaw member from Maungdaw Township, said that the authorities should take action against those who entered through the border fence illegally.

“We have to examine this kind of thing. We have to take action against them under the immigration laws. Only if we arrest them, we can reduce this kind of illegal entry. Otherwise, it is likely they will keep entering into our country illegally,” he said.

Some lawmakers also urged Muslims who fled to Bangladesh because of the 2017 terrorist attacks in Maungdaw to come back Myanmar on the dates set by the Myanmar and Bangladesh governments.

Some police officers lost their lives when the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) attacked in Maungdaw in 2017.  International organizations said that 700,000 Muslim people fled to Bangladesh when the Myanmar security troops responded to the attack by ARSA.

German news agency DW reported on September 24 that 3,500 ARSA members were residing in Cox's Bazar refugee camps in Bangladesh.