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Bangladesh arrests 33 Rohingya for illegal entry from Myanmar

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A Rohingya family crosses a bamboo bridge in a refugee camp near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh in May. (Credit: Reuters)

A total of 33 Rohingya, who allegedly crossed the Myanmar-Bangladesh border illegally, were arrested by the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in Bandarban district on Saturday, the Anadolu News Agency reported.

Bandarban is located 72 miles (116 km) north of Cox’s Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh, where over one million Rohingya live in refugee camps. 

Ten men, nine women, and 14 children were arrested after the BGB and other law enforcement agencies inspected a camp in Alikadam sub district of Bandarban. 

The BGB reported that the 33 Rohingya had fled from Myanmar and had paid for safe passage into Cox’s Bazar. It added that the Rohingya will be deported back to Myanmar. 

The BGB arrested 53 Rohingya in Alikadam, Bandarban district, on Jan. 11. It told the media that the Rohingya had fled fighting between the Arakan Army (AA) and the regime in northern Arakan State.

Bangladesh’s interim government is seeking international support to assist the estimated 1.2 million Rohingya living in refugee camps across the country. An international high-level conference on the Rohingya is tentatively scheduled for later this year in Doha, Qatar, with the support of the U.N.

Three killed and 20 injured by airstrikes on vital ruby mining town Mogok in Mandalay Region

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Mogok residents inspect the destruction caused by regime airstrikes on Feb. 9. (Credit: CJ)

At least three civilians were killed and 20 others were injured by airstrikes carried out by the Myanmar Air Force on Mogok town in Mandalay Region on Sunday. An unknown number of homes were destroyed by the airstrikes. 

Mogok residents told DVB that more than 20 bombs were dropped in seven regime airstrikes in the western part of Mogok, which is located 124 miles (200 km) north of Mandalay. 

“The bombs landed onto the ruby mines. We heard there were problems between ruby miners and someone tipping off the location to the military,” a Mogok resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity.

The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) seized control of the vital ruby mining hub of Mogok Township, on July 24.

This was during Operation Shan-Man, in which the TNLA and Mandalay People’s Defense Force (MPDF) launched twin offensives in Mandalay and northern Shan State, on June 25

The TNLA confirmed the airstrikes on social media but it has yet to respond to DVB requests for specific details about the attacks. 

The Myanmar Air Force conducted airstrikes near a golf course in Mogok on Jan. 8, but there were no reported casualties. 

Twenty civilians were killed and 13 others were injured by airstrikes on Mogok in November. The TNLA is currently operating its administration and conducting reconstruction efforts in Mogok together with the town’s residents, according to its spokesperson. 

New ASEAN Special Envoy on Myanmar meets with resistance in Bangkok after regime in Naypyidaw

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Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan announced the appointment of Othman Hashim as the Special Envoy on Myanmar at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat in Langkawi, Malaysia, on Jan. 19. (Credit: BERNAMA)

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Special Envoy on Myanmar Othman Hashim met with the National Unity Government (NUG), the Karen National Union (KNU), the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), the Chin National Front (CNF), and the New Mon State Party – Anti-Dictatorship (NMSP-AD) in Bangkok, Thailand on Saturday.

This followed Hashim’s visit with the regime in Naypyidaw Feb. 6-8, where he reportedly urged it to cease hostilities, the VOA reported.  

Hashim discussed three of the five points in the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus, which was agreed to by Min Aung Hlaing in April 2021 but not implemented upon his return to Myanmar.

The Special Envoy wants both sides in Myanmar to end violence, allow humanitarian aid deliveries, and begin inclusive dialogue among all stakeholders, the VOA added.  

Hashim is the former secretary general of Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was selected by Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan to implement the ASEAN Five Point Consensus, the regional bloc’s peace plan for Myanmar.

At the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat in Langkawi last month, Malaysia Foreign Ministry Secretary General Amran Mohammed Zin told the media that ASEAN is focused on ending the violence in Burma.

Malaysia has been continuing efforts based on Indonesia’s approach when it held the ASEAN chair in 2023, during which more than 100 discussions were held with the regime and the resistance in Myanmar, Othman explained.

Since Thursday, both regional and international meetings about the Myanmar crisis have been held, but Malaysia has chosen not to publicize details, according to sources.

Malaysia will host more than 300 meetings and summits throughout the year under the theme “Inclusivity and Sustainability.” Previously, Malaysia chaired ASEAN in 1977, 1997, 2005 and 2015.

Myanmar refugee dies in Thailand after US clinic closed; Military denies reports it’s now conscripting women

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Refugees from Myanmar at Mae La camp in Mae Sot district, Tak Province of Thailand, on July 21, 2014. (Credit: Reuters)

Myanmar refugee dies in Thailand after US clinic closed

A 71-year-old from Burma named Pe Kha Lau, living in Umpiem Mai Refugee Camp in Thailand, died after experiencing shortness of breath four days after being discharged from a health facility funded by the U.S. on Feb. 2. The clinic, which was run by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), closed after a U.S. freeze on foreign aid.

“To hear of this loss of life is devastating and we offer our condolences to the family and friends of Pe Kha Lau,” an IRC spokesperson told Reuters. The IRC closed and locked hospitals in several refugee camps in late January after receiving a “stop-work” order from the U.S. State Department, according to residents and aid workers.

The IRC has served tens of thousands of refugees from Burma, among the nearly 100,000, living at nine refugee camps in Thailand. Thai officials and refugee organizations are trying to fill the void left by the absence of U.S. funding along the Burma-Thai border. Pe Kha Lau had been hospitalized for three years and was dependent on a supply of oxygen, according to her family.

Beijing reiterates non-interference in Myanmar crisis

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated Beijing’s policy of “non-interference” in Burma during a press conference on Friday. It faced questions from the media and criticism from anti-coup resistance forces, including the National Unity Government (NUG), over its support to the regime in Naypyidaw, which seized power after the 2021 military coup, on Jan. 29.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is the “main channel for mediation” on the crisis in Burma, and that its efforts to implement the Five-Point Consensus will stabilize the situation. He added that China “supports Myanmar’s efforts to safeguard its independence, sovereignty, national unity, and territorial integrity.” 

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with leaders of two ASEAN member states—Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra—on Thursday. They reportedly discussed cyber scams centers operating along Burma’s borders. Bangkok cut power to five towns in Burma on Wednesday in an effort to stop transnational crime.

Military denies reports its now conscripting women

Regime spokesperson Zaw Min Tun stated on Friday that there are still no plans to draft women into military service under its conscription law, which was enforced on Feb. 10, 2024 and stipulates women aged 18 to 27 must serve at least two years, or up to five years in the case of an emergency. Female professionals, such as doctors or engineers, can be made to serve up to age 35.

Burma has been under a state of emergency since the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021. The regime extended it a seventh time on Jan. 31. “I want to make it clear that although women are eligible under the law and its regulations, there are no current plans to call them up for military service,” he told regime media, although he did not share specifics about when women might be forced into military service.

Since last month, Yangon residents have told DVB that township authorities have been compiling lists with women’s names eligible for military conscription. The regime has also ordered those selected for military conscription to be barred from leaving the country without authorization.

News by Region

Pro-military supporters hold a rally in Myawaddy, Karen State, on Feb. 8. (Credit: CJ)

KAREN—Nearly 100 residents of Myawaddy, led by pro-military supporters, staged a rally calling for a boycott of Thai products on Saturday. Myawaddy is located 90 miles (145 km) east of the Karen State capital Hpa-an along the Thai-Burma border next to Thailand’s Mae Sot. 

They also demanded the closure of both official and unofficial border gates. “They’re bringing shame to Myawaddy while deliberately trying to create friction between Thailand and Myanmar,” a Myawaddy resident told DVB. Thailand’s Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) cut power to Myawaddy because it hosts several cyber scam centers. 

MANDALAY—The regime’s Central Committee on Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) announced on Saturday that it had seized narcotics worth over 7.3 billion MMK ($1.6 million USD) in Pyigyitagon Township after arresting a group of alleged drug dealers on Feb. 1-6. Pyigyitagon is five miles (8 km) south of downtown Mandalay.

A total of seven were arrested and accused by police of drug dealing. Three vehicles and a motorcycle were seized. They allegedly told police that the drugs that were stored at a house in Pyigyitagon was owned by a man living in Kyethi Township of southern Shan State. Kyethi is 225 miles east (362 km) of Pyigyitagon. 

SHAN—A group calling itself the Southern Shan Revolution Youth, which withdrew its forces from under the National Unity Government (NUG) Ministry of Defense, announced that it is seeking 200 new members on Friday. It wants to join forces with other local armed groups to scale up attacks in southern Shan State. 

“We are calling new recruits to form a new systematic force to attack the military,” a spokesperson told DVB. Applicants must be over age 18 with no health problems and be able to follow orders and duties. The group is currently involved in joint attacks in Moebye Township of southern Shan and in neighbouring Karenni State. 

YANGON—A source close to the police department told DVB that a Chinese national allegedly involved in human trafficking was arrested at the Yangon International Airport on Thursday. The man was alleged to have posted a video to social media offering cash and gifts to two teenage girls living in Dala Township to marry Chinese men. 

“There are three to four people who are allegedly involved in [his] case,” said a police source on the condition of anonymity. Another Chinese national and two Burma nationals are alleged to have visited the teenagers in Dala on Feb. 3. The two Chinese nationals and two Burma nationals have been charged under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Law. 

(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,530 MMK)

Read: The Rohingya exodus from Maungdaw in northern Arakan State. Find DVB English News on X, Facebook, Instagram, Threads & TikTok. Subscribe to us on YouTube.

Arakan Army launches artillery strike on regime outposts in Rakhine State capital Sittwe

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Members of the Arakan Army march along the road from Arakan State into Ayeyarwady Region in January. (Credit: AA)

A source in the military told DVB on the condition of anonymity that the Arakan Army (AA) launched an artillery attack on regime outposts at Padaleik and Amyintkyun villages, including a naval base near Shwemingan Port, in Sittwe Township on Feb. 7.

“This seems to be a preemptive strike. There are also reports of sniper and machine gun fire targeting security posts. The regime forces are responding with their own artillery fire,” the source added. 

“Tensions have been high in Sittwe since Feb. 4. Those with financial means have already evacuated to Yangon by air,” a Sittwe resident told DVB.

Padaleik village is located just 10 miles north (16 km) of the Arakan (Rakhine) State capital. 

This is where the military’s Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 232 and 344 are based and it’s the first line of defence for the Regional Operations Command headquarters

The regime outposts in Sittwe are located 44 miles (70 km) south of Rathedaung Township, which is under AA control.

Fighting between the AA and the military near Sittwe and Ponnagyun townships has been ongoing for nearly one year. On Jan. 16, the Myanmar Air Force carried out airstrikes on Wabo village in Sittwe. 

The AA has taken control of 14 out of 17 townships in Arakan since it launched its offensive on Nov. 13, 2023. Only three remain under regime control, including the capital Sittwe, the vital port town of Kyaukphyu, and the island of Manaung.

The Rohingya exodus from Maungdaw in northern Rakhine State

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Maungdaw Township in northern Arakan State seen from the Naf River along the Burma-Bangladesh border. (Credit: Reuters)

Guest contributor

Shafiur Rahman

Starting on Aug. 7, a large portion of the Rohingya population of Maungdaw Township was forcibly evacuated by the Arakan Army (AA) under the pretext of civilian protection. 

The conflict between the AA and the military had turned this once-bustling border town into a battleground. The AA claimed the displacement was necessary to safeguard civilians, yet for the tens of thousands of Rohingya uprooted from their homes, it has been a devastating calamity. 

Food shortages, forced recruitment, indiscriminate shelling, and a complete breakdown in medical care and basic services forced many to undertake perilous journeys to Bangladesh.

The vanishing enclave

Maungdaw, located in northern Arakan (Rakhine) State, once represented a remaining stronghold for Rohingya life in Myanmar. After successive waves of violence in 2016 and 2017 drove more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee, the town of Maungdaw and a few nearby villages became the last enclaves where Rohingya communities tried to maintain some semblance of normalcy. 

But when the AA’s fight for control of Rakhine escalated, they shut down supply routes and launched new offensives in these areas. By August 2024, another exodus of Rohingya from Maungdaw was underway.

The strangling blockade

For families in Maungdaw, warning signs appeared long before August. Harun, 21, a Rohingya shop owner and resident of Nolboinna village in Maungdaw, recalls how the AA’s blockade on supply routes drove up prices of essential commodities to astronomical levels. 

“Before the blockade, a 50-kilogram bag of rice cost around 20,000 kyats. By June or July, the same sack had skyrocketed to 100,000 kyats,” he said. “Within weeks, we couldn’t afford even the basics. People began to ration every grain of rice.”

Other goods, such as cooking oil, fish, and vegetables, also became scarce or prohibitively expensive. Families struggled to feed themselves, sometimes surviving on a fraction of their usual intake. 

“Normally, we used one kilogram of fish to feed our family,” Harun explained. “But we had to cut it down to 250 grams. Often, we couldn’t afford any fish at all, or we had no means to buy vegetables.”

Displacement in waves

As the AA and government forces clashed, many Rohingya in Maungdaw found themselves trapped in a cycle of forced displacement. Harun had to flee repeatedly – first to the eastern side of Nolboinna, then to Noya Fara, and finally to Hari Fara – two villages on the outskirts of Maungdaw. 

“We never knew when the next attack would come,” Harun said. “At one point, we heard [Rakhine] had entered our area. We ran with only the clothes on our backs. My mother died in Hari Fara. Even then, we hardly had time to bury her properly before moving again.”

This constant flight took a heavy toll on families. They risked bombardment at every turn, and even when they reached a new location, the next offensive or threat of violence forced them to move on. 

“We were always on edge,” Harun added. “No matter where we went, bombs were falling. People died in front of us. Some died in the street, some at home, and some by the beach while trying to escape. Every place was dangerous.”

Living in darkness

Well before the forced evacuation, the Rohingya in Maungdaw had been plunged into literal darkness. Electricity was cut off four months before August, leaving families reliant on candles, kerosene lamps, or solar panels, if they were fortunate enough to own one. 

“Most people did not have solar panels. They couldn’t afford them or couldn’t carry them once the bombings started,” Harun recalled.

Communication networks went down around the same time. Phones and the internet became useless. “We couldn’t call anyone, couldn’t check on our relatives,” Harun said. “If someone died or needed help, there was no way to share the information.” 

As a result, even news of major life events, like births or deaths, failed to reach extended families. “My relatives didn’t know my mother had died until we reached Bangladesh,” he added.

No safety, no shelter

Indiscriminate shelling made every inch of Maungdaw a potential death trap. Some families attempted to reinforce their homes with sandbags or brick walls; others dug small bunkers in their yards. Yet no measure guaranteed safety. 

“We lived in fear of bombs hitting us indoors,” Harun said. “But we were also too afraid to go outside. It didn’t matter if you were in your house or in the street—you could be killed at any moment.”

An anonymous survivor from Guna Fara village in Maungdaw described how he and his family huddled in a makeshift well-like hole in their yard. 

Standing for hours in dirty water led to skin infections, but it was the only way they felt even marginally safer from the drone attacks that rained overhead. 

When food ran out, he attempted a dangerous crawl back to his home to retrieve rice.

“It should’ve been a ten-minute walk,” he said, “but it took two hours as I crawled through bushes to avoid being spotted by drones. I managed to get 20 kilograms of rice, but on my way back, the drones attacked our group. Thirteen people died in front of my eyes.”

Scarce water and medical neglect

As the conflict intensified, water sources became scarce and often contaminated. Ponds, tube wells, and mud wells, once lifelines in this rural area, were either unreachable or dried out from overuse. 

“You can’t imagine how many people were sharing one tube well,” Harun said. “We had to queue for hours to fill even a single pot. Sometimes, if the pump was broken, we had no choice but to drink from mud wells.”

Medical care was virtually nonexistent. “For almost one and a half months before August, there was no access to treatment,” Harun explained. 

Injuries that might have been treatable with first aid proved fatal without antibiotics, bandages, or medical supervision. “People would bleed to death from shrapnel. I saw many die because they couldn’t get help in time,” he said.

Some, like the anonymous survivor, sought medical help from the military after being hit by drone fragments. Surprisingly, he was granted basic treatment, though his family was not allowed to accompany him. 

The rest of Maungdaw’s Rohingya, however, did not receive such assistance, and by the time people attempted to flee to Bangladesh, many were gravely wounded or already nearing starvation.

Forced out by violence

The AA’s role in displacing the Rohingya was explicit. They entered villages and forced residents to leave. Harun recalled how the AA also began targeting youth for forced recruitment. 

“We heard they were capturing young men and keeping them in their territory,” he said. “Out of fear, and because of the bombings, we had no choice but to move toward the beach and try to cross into Bangladesh.”

Omar Khaled’s testimony takes it a step further, detailing abductions and systematic torture by the AA. 

“They took us to a place called 4 Miles in Maungdaw,” he said. “We were blindfolded and handcuffed. We saw them drive nails into people’s feet, insert pipes into bodies to drain blood. Some were slaughtered outright.”

Omar describes how detainees were given just enough food to stay alive, and in some cases, forced to eat dog meat under threat. “If they refused, they were beaten.”

The violence escalated again on Sept. 9 when the military carried out an airstrike on the AA detention site where Omar was held. “Room 7 was hit directly – children, women, and even some AA soldiers died. I only survived because I was in Room 10.”

Collapsing livelihoods

The chaos in Maungdaw destroyed most families’ livelihoods well before they physically fled. Harun had a modest shop and owned livestock – 65 buffaloes plus goats. 

“All were seized by the Arakan Army. I couldn’t argue with them,” he said. “I lost my shop, the money I’d invested, and eventually, my mother and my aunt.”

With the markets shut down and supply routes blocked, many people resorted to borrowing money or food from relatives and neighbors who had slightly more resources.

“We borrowed a sack of rice here, a bit of money there,” Harun recalled. “Sometimes, the person lending us food needed it just as badly. It was all out of desperation.”

A desperate exodus

By mid-August, the combined pressures of bombing, forced displacement, and fear of abduction made survival in Maungdaw untenable. 

Harun and his remaining family members finally decided to leave on Aug. 25. “We saw so many people killed by bombs at the beach,” he said. “Over 300 bodies lay there, perhaps 500.”

They paid boat owners all the money they had, often supplemented with whatever jewellery the women were wearing. Harun’s father and some of his siblings were abducted by dacoits upon landing in Bangladesh, while Harun himself was intercepted by the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and temporarily held. 

After days of confusion, pushbacks, and paying ransoms to brokers or dacoits, the family was eventually reunited. “We paid 100,000 [taka] to free my father and one sister,” Harun says. “Another 80,000 [taka] for my two other sisters.”

Omar’s journey mirrored these hardships. After surviving torture, he escaped in chains, stumbling through the jungle for days. Local villagers helped cut off his shackles, and eventually he too reached Maungdaw’s coast to board a boat for Bangladesh. 

Interception by the BGB led to pushback to Myanmar, but with the help of brokers, at a steep cost, he managed to cross into Bangladesh.

Life on the edge

Reaching Bangladesh hardly signaled the end of suffering. The Rohingya face a new set of hardships in overcrowded refugee camps, with limited access to healthcare, sanitation, and opportunities to earn a living. 

For many, it feels like an endless cycle of persecution: driven out by one hostile group, only to find themselves unwelcome or exploited elsewhere.

Even more troubling is the fact that Maungdaw, the last significant Rohingya enclave in Myanmar, stands substantially emptied. While not everyone has left Maungdaw, large parts of this historically significant enclave now lie deserted. 

Some estimates suggest that less than a quarter of the original population may still remain, though exact figures are difficult to confirm. Having already lost entire villages in 2016 and 2017, the Rohingya have now lost what remained of their homeland in Maungdaw town. 

“We never expected to leave,” Harun admitted. “But we had no other choice. When bombs destroy your home and your mother dies in front of you, you run.”

Harun, Omar, and the anonymous survivor each represent a fragment of a much larger tragedy. Their stories echo the experiences of countless others who have lost homes, loved ones, and any sense of security. 

In the hush that has fallen over Maungdaw, the Rohingya’s future in Myanmar appears more precarious than ever.


Shafiur Rahman is a journalist and documentary maker. He writes the Rohingya Refugee News newsletter. 

DVB publishes a diversity of opinions that does not reflect DVB editorial policy. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our stories: [email protected]

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