Bangladesh asks Myanmar to exercise restraint amid escalated border tension

Bangladesh currently offers refuge to over 1.1 million Rohingyas as a ruthless Myanmar military cleansing campaign in August 2017 forced their influx to the country

Bangladesh on Saturday asked Myanmar to exercise restraint as tensions escalated in frontiers over the use of artillery guns along the borders by its forces which killed a Rohingya child and wounded several others in the past several days.

“Bangladesh does want war,” Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told reporters here when asked for comments on the Myanmar security forces actions on the borders, frightening both Bangladeshis and Rohingyas who took refuge in makeshift camps in the neighbourhood.

Mr. Kamal said Bangladesh would inform the United Nations if Myanmar does not end the firing near the Bangladesh border as "we have repeatedly warned Myanmar through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but they did not heed the warnings".

Mr. Kamal said Bangladesh wanted to resolve issues with Myanmar peacefully and expected the neighbour to realise their mistake and refrain from doing anything in future that impedes bilateral relations.

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"As we do not want conflict, our efforts are underway to find a peaceful solution with Myanmar. We will do everything,” Mr. Kamal said, attributing Myanmar actions to its internal conflicts with rebel groups like the Arakan Liberation Army.

"Sometimes a good relationship was seen between Myanmar and the Arakan Army, sometimes it turned into war, for reasons unknown to us. But definitely their war should remain within their boundaries," Mr. Kamal said.