Online Desk :
The process of repatriating 330 people, mostly members of the Myanmar Border Guard Police (BGP) who fled into Bangladesh to escape an ongoing conflict between military forces and insurgents, is underway in Cox’s Bazar.
The group includes 302 Border Guard Police personnel, four of their family members, two army men, 18 immigration officials and four civilians.
A delegation from Myanmar is in Cox’s Bazar’s Inani to oversee the handover process on Thursday, reports bdnews24.com.
Between 11:00 am and 12:00 pm, 165 people were transferred from the Inani jetty in Cox’s Bazar to a Myanmar ship in the deep sea. The others will be handed over in the afternoon.
According to the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), the Myanmar nationals took shelter in two schools in Cox’s Bazar’s Teknaf and Bandarban’s Ghumdhum.
They were transported to the Bangladesh Navy jetty in Inani by 12 buses around 7:30 am.
A Myanmar Navy ship is stationed off the maritime border to take the group home. A tourist ship will transfer the BGP members and their families to the navy vessel.
After a roll call and identification of the BGP members, the two sides completed the necessary documentation before beginning the boarding process.
The BGB director general and the Myanmar ambassador to Bangladesh, accompanied by officials from both nations, are overseeing the process amid heightened security.
Police, the Rapid Action Battalion, BGB, and Coast Guard personnel have been deployed to ensure a safe handover process.
