173 Bangladeshis are returning from Myanmar

173 Bangladeshis left for the country from Sittwe Prison in Rakhine State, Myanmar.

A press release of the Bangladesh Embassy in Yangon on Tuesday informed that the Bangladeshis are returning on the ship that will be sent to take back the members of the Myanmar Defense Force who fled the conflict in Rakhine.

According to the embassy, ​​they left on Tuesday morning from Sittwe port on the Myanmar naval ship Chin Duin.

“The ship is expected to reach Bangladeshi waters tomorrow and the Bangladeshi nationals are expected to be handed over to the concerned authorities in Bangladesh.”

Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud had already informed that the Myanmar ship will take these Bangladeshi soldiers and BGP members on April 25.

As of late, 285 members of the Myanmar Army and Border Guard BGP have escaped from Rakhine and are in the custody of Bangladesh Border Guard Force BGB.

According to the embassy’s press release on Tuesday, 129 of the 173 people on their way back are residents of Cox’s Bazar district; There are 30 residents of Bandarban, seven residents of Rangamati and one each from Khagrachari, Noakhali, Narayanganj, Chittagong, Rajbari, Narsingdi and Nilphamari districts.

Highlighting the process of returning these citizens, it is said in the circular that the Bangladesh Embassy in Yangon, as soon as it received information about the Myanmar ship’s visit to Bangladesh, raised the matter with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs of Bangladesh and the relevant authorities of Myanmar.

“In a plan to repatriate the maximum number of verified Bangladeshi nationals quickly and easily, the Embassy undertook the initiative to bring 144 ‘verified Bangladeshi nationals who have completed their sentences or been pardoned’ from various prisons in Myanmar to Sittwe Prison.”

Highlighting the repatriation of 29 people, the circular said, “29 verified Bangladeshi citizens, who are still incarcerated or under trial, are also released to the host country, on the basis of which they are also sent home after waiving the sentence.”

For a long time, there has been a conflict between the army and the rebel groups in Myanmar, which has also affected the border areas of Bangladesh. Mortar shells and bullets from across the border also caused casualties.

The government sent back 330 people, including border guards and members of the armed forces, who fled the conflict in the first round on February 16.

Among them were 302 Myanmar Border Guard Police-BGP, four family members, two army personnel, 18 immigration personnel and four civilians.

After that, a total of 285 people came to Bangladesh in several rounds along the border of Bandarban and Cox’s Bazar, including members of the Myanmar Border Guard Force and army personnel.