I lost my mother.
My mother could have been with me today.
But, she left me because of a mortar shell fired by [Myanmar's]
military that hit her.
I don't know if I will get justice for my mother.
Ebrahim's mother, Hosne Ara Begum, was killed when shelling from Myanmar
hit her house in Bangladesh on February 5.
The 55-year-old was cooking at the time.
Ebrahim's home is around 800 meters from the border
between the two countries.
The shelling also killed a Rohingya worker.
We started to hear the sounds of a lot of gunfire in the border
area at the beginning of February.
The sound was so loud that we could not sleep at night.
Still, the local administration didn't pay attention to it.
They didn't alert us.
Had they had warned us, we would have left the area and taken
shelter elsewhere.
A flare up in fighting between junta forces and ethnic rebel
group Arakan Army in Myanmar, Rakhine state, is spilling across this border
and it's endangering Bangladeshi villagers living here.
Bangladeshi citizens living near the Myanmar border remained in
fear as the sounds of gunfire and explosions in Myanmar continued.
These villagers told DW that Bangladeshi authorities are not doing
enough to keep them safe.
They think the South Asian countries should engage
in smart diplomacy to prevent any spillover effect of its
neighbor's internal conflicts into its territory.
We are frightened because the Arakan Army isn't the
local government there.
They captured it from the Myanmar army.
If the army counterattacks, we will be the first victims.
We still hear gunshots at around 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. We,
the people at the border, are very terrified now.
Two bullets reached my house as well.
Ebrahim said that despite the recent casualties,
the border remains unprotected.
The border is not secured.
Smugglers, rebel groups, ARSA, Nobi Hossain group
travel across here.
This area has become their base.
Bangladesh repatriated 330 members of the Myanmar security forces on
Thursday (February 15, 2024).
They were handed over to the Southeast Asian country's
authorities at a naval jetty in Cox's Bazar district
under the supervision of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).
The deputy commissioner of Cox's Bazar has urged
the villagers to stay vigilant.
Whenever it's felt that they have a security threat,
we suggest they come to a safe place or a shelter.
But it remains to be seen whether this is enough to
keep these citizens safe.