Dhaka, Sept 17: Bangladesh has accused Myanmar of repeatedly violating its air space and warned that any more “provocative acts” could have “unwarranted consequences”, raising the risk of a deterioration in relations already strained by the Rohingya refugee crisis .
Bangladesh said Myanmar drones and helicopters had violated its air space three times — on Sept 10, 12 and 14 — and it had called in a top Myanmar embassy official in Dhaka to complain.
“Bangladesh expressed deep concern at the repetition of such acts of provocation and demanded that Myanmar takes immediate measures to ensure that such violation of sovereignty does not occur again,” the ministry said in statement late on Friday. “These provocative acts may lead to unwarranted consequences.”
A Myanmar government spokesman said he did not have information about the incidents Bangladesh had complained about but Myanmar had denied an earlier accusation.
The spokesman, Zaw Htay, said Myanmar would check any information that Bangladesh provided. “Our two countries are facing the refugee crisis. We need to collaborate with good understanding,” he told Reuters.
Three killed in refugee camp stampede
Two children and a woman were killed in a stampede for aid near a Bangladesh refugee camp, UN agencies said on Saturday amid widespread fights among Rohingya for food and clothing thrown from relief trucks.
The incident occurred on Friday at Balukhali in Cox’s Bazar district where tens of thousands of Muslim Rohingya have camped for weeks after fleeing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
“Two children and one woman were killed in a stampede during an unauthorised clothing distribution on the road in Balukhali Pan Bazar area,” said a report prepared by a group of UN agencies and two charities.
“Despite local regulations and the control room established, private distributions of relief items continue,” it said, highlighting chaotic aid management that has drawn flak from rights workers.
AFP correspondents have witnessed violent scrambles for aid at camps around Cox’s Bazaar. Refugee witnesses have also told of stampedes.
A local rights expert slammed the government for the chaotic relief management, saying fights were breaking out each time an aid truck arrived and when food sacks were thrown to the refugees.
Two police officials told AFP however that they were unaware of any deaths of refugees due to a stampede in the Rohingya camps. “We know two Rohingya have died on Friday at Balukhali area. They included a six-month-old baby who died of pneumonia,” local police chief Mohammed Kai-Kislu said.
A 70-year-old man died of natural causes, he said, adding that another Rohingya man died on Saturday in a different place.
Movement restrictions
Bangladesh restricted the movement of Rohingya refugees on Saturday, banning them from leaving designated areas in the country to which over 400,000 have fled from violence in neighbouring Myanmar.
As Dhaka struggled to cope with the scale of the “unprecedented crisis”, dozens of refugees were found in three towns hundreds of kilometres from the Myanmar frontier, stoking fears that thousands of Rohingya Muslims will move from the border region into the the mainland of Bangladesh.
Police said they have now issued an order banning the Rohingya refugees from leaving the areas and camps the government has designated for them in the border district.
“They should stay in the designated camps until they return to their country,” Sahely Ferdous, a police spokeswoman, said in a statement. She said Rohingya were also asked not to take shelter in the homes of their friends or acquaintances and locals have been asked not to rent houses to the refugees.
Police said they have set up check posts and surveillance in key transit points to make sure the refugees don’t travel to the other parts of the country.
The restrictions are announced as Bangladesh authorities said they faced an “unprecedented crisis”.
Bangladesh warns Myanmar over violating air space
