Myanmar sends explanation letters to all foreign missions

The Myanmar’s new military administration sent letters to all foreign missions in Naypyidaw, including Bangladesh embassy, in an efforts to justify the army’s takeover as a constitutional responsibility in view of alleged rigging in the country’s last general elections.

“We got the letter (as well). They gave the letter to our Ambassador (to Myanmar),” Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen told reporters after attending a function today in the capital.

He said the new Myanmar interim government conveyed that some 10.4 million fake votes were cast in the national election held in November last year.

Myanmar military seized state power detaining the country’s de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, toppling her government on Monday and declared a one-year state of emergency.

Earlier, the foreign minister told BSS that the letter was sent from the Military’s commander’s office not from Myanmar’s foreign ministry.

Momen said Dhaka decided to “approach directly” the new Myanmar government to resume talks over Rohingya repatriation as soon as it set in while China previously extended a mediatory hand under a
tripartite negotiation.

Meanwhile, reports coming from other side of the border said regional military commanders on Friday visited for the third consecutive day the Muslim Rohingya community at their abode in Rakhine.

The reports suggest the military commanders visibly made an effort to dispel the Rohingyas growing anxiety afresh after the army takeover in the country as a brutal 2017 army crackdown forced over a million of them to flee their home.

The situation at that time forced Bangladesh to extend the forcibly displaced people makeshift shelter at bordering Cox’s Bazar, when it simultaneously launched a desperate campaign for their safe and dignified return.

Bangladesh so far provided the neighbour biometric data of 8,30,000 Rohingyas while the Myanmar authority so far verified only 42,000 of them.

Myanmar, however, is yet to take back a single Rohingya while repatriation attempts failed twice due to trust deficit among the Rohingyas about their safety and security in Rakhine state.

Source: BSS

AH