Narinjara News, May 8, 2025  

On May 7, 2025, forty nationals from Myanmar, comprising 34 soldiers and members of the Border Guard Police Force, were repatriated from Bangladesh through Cox's Bazar Airport.

The repatriation comprised 13 soldiers from the junta, 21 border guards, and 6 prisoners who are Myanmar nationals, amounting to a total of 40.

The 34 repatriated members of junta forces and the Myanmar Border Guard Force reportedly fled to Bangladesh last year due to clashes with the AA in Rakhine State.

"Among the 34 repatriated Myanmar forces, 21 are members of the border police and 13 are military personnel," stated Brigadier General MM Imrul Hassan, commander of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in Cox's Bazar division. He further noted, "They have been held in BGB custody since their arrival."

The 34 reportedly escaped from Maungdaw town in Rakhine State, where intense conflict erupted between December 17, 2024, and January 11, 2025, crossing the Nat River and entering Bangladesh through Teknaf, a border town facing Maungdaw on the Myanmar side.

According to reports from Bangladesh, the six civilians are reportedly serving time for offenses including drug trafficking and murder after they illegally crossed the border into Bangladesh.

At 11:15 am on May 7, security forces from the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and police transported 34 members of the junta troops to Cox's Bazar airport in vehicles.

Half an hour later, at approximately 11:45 am, six additional inmates were transported to the airport in prison vans from the Cox's Bazar district jail.

According to airport officials, the special flight departing from Myanmar with them took off from Cox's Bazar airport at 2:45 pm.

Officials from Bangladesh's Foreign Ministry participated in the handover ceremony, transferring 40 Myanmar nationals to Myanmar authorities following immigration and verification procedures at the airport.

This is the fifth transfer, and in the last four handovers, 876 Myanmar soldiers who fled to Bangladesh have been sent back.

The repatriations occurred as such: 330 on February 15, 2024, 288 on April 25, 2024, 134 on June 9, 2024, and 124 on September 29, 2024. Simultaneously, Myanmar has returned 214 Bangladeshi nationals held in prison to Bangladesh via diplomatic means. (Photo: The Business Standard)