Dhaka in touch with Naypyidaw, Arakan Army

Bangladesh is in contact with the Myanmar junta government in Naypyidaw and Arakan Army in Rakhine state on the issue of stability, humanitarian aid, and Rohingya repatriation, National Security Adviser Khalilur Rahman said yesterday.

"As the UN wants to provide humanitarian aid, we would like to support that. This can help stabilise the Rakhine state and create conditions for Rohingya repatriation," he told The Daily Star.

He said Dhaka is directly engaged with Naypyidaw, and via the UN with the Arakan Army, a non-state actor which controls about 80 percent of the Rakhine state that borders Bangladesh.

Khalilur said the humanitarian channel that is being discussed is only meant to provide support to the UN in delivering humanitarian aid to the state under UN supervision.

"The discussion is ongoing. We will definitely make it public to the nation at the right time."

Khalilur, also chief adviser's high representative on Rohingya and other priority issues, said the UN will be holding a high-level conference on Rohingyas in New York in September. "We are working for the solution to the Rohingya crisis ..."

The comments came when several political parties expressed concerns over the issue of humanitarian channel being discussed with the UN, citing potential implications for national security and sovereignty after Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain's statement.

Touhid told the media on Sunday that Bangladesh agrees in principle to the UN proposal of a humanitarian passage for the provision of humanitarian aid to the Rakhine state under the UN supervision, but with certain conditions.

Meanwhile, this correspondent yesterday reached out to the office of UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh.

A spokesperson of the UN office said any humanitarian support or supplies across the border from Bangladesh to Myanmar will first need to be agreed between the two governments.

"The UN has a legal obligation to obtain permission from the governments concerned to deliver cross-border assistance. Without this, the UN's direct involvement is limited," the spokesperson said. 

The Rakhine state is in a humanitarian crisis, with hundreds of thousands displaced amid ongoing clashes between Myanmar's military and the Arakan Army.

Since November 2023, about 1.13 lakh more Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh making the total number 1.3 million.

The spokesperson of the UN office in Bangladesh said it remains concerned about the worsening humanitarian situation in Rakhine and continues to support the refugees in Bangladesh and the Bangladesh government.

On Monday, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi told the UN Security Council in New York that Bangladesh's interim government has chosen to engage with the parties to the conflict in Rakhine in pursuit of a solution.