Bangladesh-Myanmar Military Partnership’s Impact on Rohingyas

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A reportedly confidential memo from a high-level meeting of Myanmar’s junta has revealed that the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a Rohingya insurgent group, was the target of a deadly crackdown by a joint effort of the armed forces of Myanmar and Bangladesh. Although previous accounts of the memo highlighted internal dissent against the Myanmar government, the newly revealed minutes also expose the hitherto undisclosed partnership between Bangladesh and Myanmar in addressing the issue of ARSA.

The documents, originating from a December 23 meeting of the Central Committee for Counter-Terrorism of the Home Affairs Ministry, were published by ‘Khit Thit Media’ on January 10, 2023. They contained an explosive paragraph which stated, “During 2022, there have been only 4 skirmishes between our forces and ARSA. We were able to meet, discuss and coordinate with the Bangladesh Border Guard Force over ARSA.

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“The result was that Bangladesh special forces launched a military operation in the refugee camp where ARSA took shelter, killing the ARSA’s 2nd in Command and 2 terrorists. From one intelligence exchange with Bangladesh, we learned that the ARSA leader Ataullah and 60 of his followers are facing legal actions in Bangladesh.” The reported, clandestine alliance against ARSA and the planned assault on a refugee camp could come as a surprise to observers.

Having accepted more than 800,000 Rohingya refugees in 2016 and 2017, Bangladesh has been urging the global community to push Myanmar to take them back and has backed efforts at the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court to hold Myanmar accountable.

The disclosure of the joint operation between the armed forces of Bangladesh and Myanmar to target a refugee camp has the potential to harm the humanitarian reputation of Bangladesh. This is especially true because the Home Minister of Bangladesh had characterised the operation as an attempt to combat drug-related problems.