DHAKA – Dhaka is finalizing the repatriation of 179 Myanmar regime troops who fled conflict in Rakhine State while Myanmar’s junta hopes to hand back over 200 Bangladeshis in regime prisons.
The swap is scheduled for early April, including a Border Guard Police (BGP) officer in his 40s who is accused of being involved in genocidal attacks on the Rohingya in 2017.
The regime border guards, who have been defeated by the Arakan Army (AA) are being held by the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), which has refused to comment.
A Dhaka government source said Myanmar’s regime is struggling to maintain its prisons in Rakhine State and elsewhere and wants to send back Bangladeshi prisoners on the ship that would evacuate junta personnel from Cox’s Bazar.
The official said: “It’s not technically a prisoner swap as the troops from Myanmar sought shelter in Bangladesh. All of them are willing to return to Myanmar. If any seek refuge, we will communicate with the United Nations.”
The Bangladeshi official said the BGP officer allegedly identified as being involved in the 2017 genocide would not be coerced to make a statement.
“If he is willing to testify, we can allow the International Criminal Court [ICC] to record a statement. Otherwise not,” he said.
Bangkok-based Fortify Rights has called on Bangladesh to investigate junta personnel for involvement in crimes against the Rohingya and coordinate with the ICC’s investigation.
Several hundred more border guards have crossed into Bangladesh in the last week after being defeated by the AA.
A total of 330 regime personnel and their families crossed into Bangladesh between February 4 and 10, while the Bangladeshi authorities turned away 75 Rohingya seeking shelter during the same period.
A ship from Myanmar repatriated the junta personnel on February 15.
At the time BGB boss Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui told the media that no more border crossings would be allowed.
But on March 11, at least 179 regime personnel crossed the border in Bandarban after being defeated by the AA.
More than 700,000 Rohingya fled the military’s clearance operations in Rakhine State in 2017, bringing the total sheltering in Bangladesh above 1 million.
Attempts to repatriate the Rohingya have failed after refugees refused to return without a guarantee of safety and citizenship.
An estimated 600,000 Rohingya are believed to remain in Rakhine State, often confined to squalid camps and villages under a system of apartheid.
Shayna Bauchner of Human Rights Watch reported last month that in late January between 12 and 24 Rohingya civilians were killed in Myanmar and around 100 others were injured.
