DHAKA — Bangladesh’s navy has deployed warships around St Martin’s Island as fighting in Myanmar between the junta and the separatist Arakan Army (AA) endangers Bangladeshi shipping.
Bangladesh’s Navy posted photos on Facebook of the island deployment and Border Guard Bangladesh chief Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui visited the island.
Bangladesh has previously complained to Naypyitaw about the inclusion of St Martin’s Island on official maps of Myanmar.
Fighting between the AA and Myanmar’s regime has led to shooting at Bangladeshi boats in the Mohana area of the Naf River estuary.
The Bangladesh Foreign Ministry said it protested to Naypyitaw on June 12 as Myanmar’s navy shot at AA positions near St Martin’s Island with the rebel group returning fire at the vessels.
The Bangladesh Navy reported heavy deployments of junta warships near the border.
It said there was increasing Bangladeshi social media chatter about the island’s security.
Myanmar’s junta media reported a meeting between the Bangladeshi ambassador to Myanmar, Md Monwar Hossain, and the junta’s foreign minister, Than Swe, in Naypyitaw on June 13 to “discuss cooperation for peace and stability along the border”.
On Saturday Bangladesh’s opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party general secretary Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir slammed Dhaka’s “silence” over St Martin’s Island and its “knee-jerk” foreign policy.
“What Myanmar has been doing the last few days surrounding St Martin is the ultimate threat to the sovereignty of the country,” Alamgir said.
St Martin Union Council chairman Mujibur Rahman told The Irrawaddy that communications with the mainland had been suspended since June 6 when gunfire from Myanmar landed near Bangladeshi boats.
A special ship was used to ferry goods and people to the island.
Resident Jakaria Alfaj said firing has reduced in recent days.
The AA’s political wing, the United League of Arakan, this week urged Maungdaw residents near the Bangladeshi border to leave their homes as the AA seeks to seize remaining junta strongholds.
In February 2019, Dhaka protested to Myanmar about the inclusion of St Martin’s Island inside Myanmar’s territory on an official website.
A formal complaint had been made in October 2018 about the apparent territorial claim with Naypyitaw accused of having an “ulterior motive” behind the online maps.
In April 2019, around 100 Border Guard Bangladesh personnel were deployed on St Martin’s Island following the erection of a steel structure by Myanmar along the Naf. Bangladesh had not been informed about the construction.
In June last year, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told the media that she would not lease out St Martin’s Island, prompting US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller to deny Washington had engaged in any conversations about taking over the island.
