Bangladesh will repatriate 285 Border Guard Police (BGP) and army personnel to Myanmar on 25 April, said Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud on Monday.
"They were supposed to be sent back by sea from Bangladesh today, but that is not happening. On 24 April, Myanmar will send a ship with 154 stranded Bangladeshi citizens," he said during a conference held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka.
Hasan said the ship will return with the 285 Myanmar personnel currently in Bangladesh the next day.
Ship schedules for repatriating Myanmar personnel are dependent on the weather and the situation in Myanmar, Hasan noted in a previous press conference on 19 April.
Myanmar is currently embroiled in a conflict between the Arakan Army insurgents and junta forces, however as the conflict grows intense, more and more Myanmar nationals have been fleeing to Bangladesh.
BGB sends letter to Myanmar protesting shooting on 2 Bangladeshi fishermen
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Guard Police (BGB) on Monday sent a protest letter to Myanmar's Border Guard Police (BGP) over the firing on a vessel with Bangladeshi fishermen in the Bay of Bengal yesterday. The incident left two fishermen injured.
The BGB sent the letter at noon on Monday, said Teknaf-2 BGB's Lt Colonel Mohiuddin Ahmed.
Recounting the incident, he said the Bangladeshi fishermen were going to Shah Porir Dwip in Teknaf after fishing in the Bay of Bengal. At that time around 10:30am on Sunday (21 April), a Myanmar vessel opened fire on the trawler, leaving the two fishermen injured. Both are currently undergoing treatment.
The fishing trawler was in the Bangladesh territorial waters at the time, he said.
2 Bangladeshi fishermen shot by Myanmar Navy in Naf River
The injured are Muhammad Ismail, 20, and Mohammad Farooq, 25.
Injured fisherman Mohammad Ismail said nine sailors went fishing in the sea on the vessel Mayer Doa trawler.
On their way back on Sunday, a ship of the Myanmar BGP stationed in the Myanmar part of the sea signalled them to approach. When they started moving towards Shahparir Dwip, the ship started firing at them.
