Bangladesh border services repatriated 330 Myanmar refugees, primarily from Myanmar’s Army and Border Guard Police (BGP), and their family on Thursday. According to local reports, the majority—302 of the 330 refugees—were BGP servicemen.

The return was mediated by a five-member BGP delegation led by Myanmar Ambassador U Aung Kyaw Moe. “They were extended makeshift refuge on humanitarian grounds as they crossed the border to save their lives. But no more intrusion will be allowed in future,” paramilitary BGP chief Major General Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui told newspersons at the repatriation site.

The refugees had fled into Bangladesh in early February as the battles in Myanmar between the junta and the Arakan army worsened despite Chinese attempts to mediate a ceasefire. This comes as the civil war in Myanmar continues to rage following the 2021 Myanmar coup d’état. 

Recently, around 700 Junta soldiers who fled to India were also repatriated when New Delhi decided to scrap a Free Movement Regime (FMR) with Myanmar. The FMR had allowed for people from India and Myanmar to move freely between the two countries. New Delhi reportedly scrapped the FMR to bolster internal Indian security, among other reasons. 

There are signs that the conflict in Myanmar could be spreading, with two people—a Bangladeshi woman and a Rohingya man from Myanmar—killed by mortar shells fired from Myanmar. Bangladesh has summoned Myanmar’s ambassador to register its protests over these recent actions.