Dhaka, Apr 23 (PTI) Bangladesh’s interim government of Professor Muhammad Yunus on Wednesday acknowledged the presence of Myanmar’s rebel Arakan Army inside its territory in the rugged southeastern region saying they were also causing troubles in border trade between the two countries.

“The Arakan Army has been staying in that area (inside Bangladesh) for a long time,” mass circulation Prothom Alo newspaper quoted Home Affairs Adviser retired lieutenant general Jahangir Alam Chowdhury as saying in the southwestern port city of Chattogram.

He added that many of Arakan Army or AA people also entered into marital relations with women in Bangladesh part of the frontier and “there is no scope to deny it”.

Chowdhury further said the AA was also disrupting the frontier trade with Myanmar seeking money on the transactions adding “we are paying taxes to the Myanmar government, while on the other hand, the Arakan Army is also demanding tax”.

The comments of the adviser, effectively a minister, came two days after social media footage went viral showing AA men joining a tribal water festival with Bangladeshi ethnic minority hill people near the frontier at Thanchi area of Bandarban district.

The video footage showed some paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) soldiers, in uniform and carrying their weapons, witnessing the Arakha Water Festival where the AA flags were hoisted to mark their presence alongside local ethnic minority people.

“Currently, they are controlling areas near the Myanmar border, surrounding Bangladesh. This has forced us to maintain communication with both the Myanmar government and the Arakan Army,” he said.

Chowdhury, who once headed the paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and served in the southeastern hills as a military officer, however, said the situation is not as “serious as it is being portrayed”.

“Bangladesh’s border is completely secure,” he said but simultaneously added “the border with Arakan (Rakhine) is a difficult border”.

Asked for comments on reports about the law-and-order situation in Chattogram Hill Tracts, the adviser claimed “despite a few isolated abduction incidents, the hill regions are now significantly more peaceful than before”.

“If our journalists report inaccurately, it gives neighbouring countries an opportunity to take advantage. Unfortunately, we are also seeing false information being spread by journalists from across the border regarding Bangladesh,” Chowdhury said.

Dhaka-Naypyidaw relations remained complicated for years as Bangladesh currently hosts over 1.3 million Rohingya Muslims who fled their home in Myanmar’s Rakhine state to evade a ruthless military crackdown in 2017.

They took makeshift refuge in sprawling camps in bordering Cox’s Bazar and on the offshore island of Bhasan Char.

Bangladesh, however, recently reached an agreement with Naypyidaw in Thailand when Myanmar’s military junta confirmed that 180,000 Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh are eligible to return to their homeland, though it has no virtual control in Rakhine.

The deal virtually carries little impact as the AA took control of nearly entire Rakhine state driving out government troops after fierce fighting, while the rebel group too appears to have no interest to take back the Rohingyas.

Yet Bangladesh’s interim government chief Muhammad Yunus expressed his hope that Rohingyas would be able to celebrate next year’s Eid in Myanmar as he travelled to Cox’s Bazar along with UN chief Antonio Guterres.

Guterres said the UN is exploring the possibility of a humanitarian aid channel from Bangladesh to Myanmar, meaning a humanitarian corridor.

“We need to intensify humanitarian aid inside Myanmar to create a condition for that return (of the Rohingya) to be successful,” Guterres said during a press briefing in Dhaka during his visit.

He suggested that under the right circumstances, having a “humanitarian channel” from Bangladesh would facilitate the return of the Rohingya community, but said it would require “authorisation and cooperation”.

“The Arakan Army is a reality in which we live,” the UN secretary general said when asked if dialogue with the AA was essential for the repatriation of Rohingyas. PTI AR GSP GSP