Bangladeshi villagers fear Myanmar conflict spillover
Many Bangladeshis living in border villages say they are worried about escalating fighting between Myanmar's ruling military junta and rebel forces. They say local authorities aren't stepping in to keep them safe.
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00:00 "I was killed. My mother died because of the murder of my eldest son. I don't know
00:07 where my mother is now."
00:17 Ibrahim's mother Hosniara Begum was killed when shelling from Myanmar hit her house in
00:23 Bangladesh on 5th February. The 55-year-old was cooking at the time. Begum's home is
00:29 around 800 metres from the border between the two countries. The shelling also killed
00:35 a Rohingya worker.
00:36 "The shelling hit us from the north of February. There were many houses on the border. We couldn't
00:45 sleep at night. We didn't get any information from the authorities. If they hadn't given
00:52 us any information, we would have been killed. We couldn't sleep at night. We were in the
00:59 hospital."
01:00 A flare-up in fighting between junta forces and ethnic rebel group Arakan Army in Myanmar's
01:06 Rakhine state is spilling across this border. And it's endangering Bangladeshi villagers
01:12 living here.
01:17 Bangladeshi citizens living near the Myanmar border remained in fear as the sounds of gunfire
01:22 and explosions in Myanmar continued.
01:26 These villagers told DW that Bangladeshi authorities are not doing enough to keep them
01:32 safe. They think the South Asian country should engage in smart diplomacy to prevent any spillover
01:39 effect of its neighbours' internal conflicts into its territory.
01:43 "We are worried that the people who are listening to us, whether they are the Mugh
01:48 or the Arakan Army, they are local people, they don't belong to any government. If they
01:55 attack us, we will be the first to be killed."
02:00 "At night, we hear gunshots. We are very scared. The people of the border are very scared.
02:07 We have two bullets in our house."
02:14 Ibrahim said that despite the recent casualties, the border remains unprotected.
02:21 "We are not safe here. We are being threatened by the government, by the military, by the
02:26 police. We are being threatened by the government. We are being threatened by the government.
02:31 We are being threatened by the government.
02:32 "Bangladesh repatriated 330 members of the Myanmar security forces on Thursday. They
02:38 were handed over to the South East Asian countries authorities at a naval jetty in Cox's Bazar
02:45 district under the supervision of Border Guard Bangladesh."
02:50 The Deputy Commissioner of Cox's Bazar has urged the villagers to stay vigilant.
02:57 "Whenever they are in danger, we tell them to come to the safe place and ask for assurance."
03:04 But it remains to be seen whether this is enough to keep these citizens safe.
03:10 Thank you.
03:11 [BLANK_AUDIO]