-halted-due-to-the-war-in-Myanmar-60980.html&is_video=&description=St+Martin%E2%80%99s+Island%3A+supplies+%28including+food%29+halted+due+to+the+war+in+Myanmar)
St Martin’s Island: supplies (including food) halted due to the war in Myanmar
Due to shooting from Myanmar, links between the island and the mainland have been cut. According to local sources, it is not clear whether the shooting was done by the military or the Arakan Army, the local ethnic militia that seems to be on the verge of seizing Rakhine State. Meanwhile, Bangladesh has deployed its Navy to the area.
Dhaka (AsiaNews) – Fighting in Myanmar’s Rakhine State between the country’s military and the local Arakan Army (AA), which is getting the upper hand, has prevented the resupply of food and water to Saint Martin’s Island, which is located along the maritime border between Bangladesh and Myanmar.
The island is about nine kilometres south of Cox's Bazar, which is part of the Teknaf Upazila (subdistrict), and some eight kilometres from the Myanmar coast. Tourists and supplies usually travel to the island via the Naf River, then the sea, before reaching the island.
Since the start of the month, several Bangladeshi boats have been involved in violent incidents. A cargo ship, a boat carrying officials and a speedboat were shot at over the span of a few days.
Although no one was hurt, local authorities decided to suspend links, effectively isolating the 10,000 or so islanders.
A local resident said that if travel between the island and the mainland does not resume soon, there is a risk of a severe food crisis.
Recently, “a ship arrived with food and other daily essentials” provided by the Cox’s Bazar district administration, but “if the boats don’t start running again normally the crisis won’t be solved,” he added.
Attempts in recent days to re-establish regular links with the mainland have failed. Boats that tried an alternate route have reported rough seas, while trawlers that tried to navigate the Naf River have said that they were fired at.
It is unclear, according to local sources, whether Myanmar border units or ethnic militias were responsible for the shooting.
Meantime, the situation is getting worse on the island. In Teknaf, people are reporting frequent explosions, which are preventing people in some areas from sleeping, while warplanes and helicopters – probably from the military – are flying over surrounding areas.
In Rakhine, the AA seems poised to take the whole state. The United Arakan League, the AA’s political branch, called on mainly Rohingya residents in Maungdaw Township to evacuate the area, stating that the government’s remaining military bases have already been surrounded.
According to analysts, the AA is likely to move onto Rakhine's capital, Sittwe, in the coming days.
In October last year, a group made up of three ethnic militias, including the AA, launched a joint offensive against positions held by the military that staged the coup d'état in February 2021, which sparked the ongoing civil war.
Since then, the military has suffered several losses, while resistance groups have seized border areas.
In Bangladesh, the opposition has criticised the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, for its "silence" on the issue.
“What Myanmar has been doing the last few days surrounding Saint Martin is the ultimate threat to the sovereignty of the country,” said an opposition leader.
The island has long been at the centre of a series of controversies. In 2019 Bangladesh issued a formal protest after Myanmar released official maps showing the island within its territorial waters.
That same year, Bangladesh sent 100 border guards to the island after the Myanmar government built a steel structure on the Naf River without informing its neighbour.
More recently, Prime Minister Hasina has accused the opposition of trying to sell off the atoll to foreign powers, in particular the United States, for the purpose of building a military base, a claim Washington has always denied.
.png)
06/09/2022 13:04
28/06/2023 14:03
18/08/2022 12:36
