Bangladesh Stands by Engagement with Myanmar’s Arakan Army

孟加拉国支持与缅甸若开邦军队的接触

作者：伊洛瓦底江         来源：伊洛瓦底江

AA troops in Rakhine State in January 2025 / AA

2025年1月AA部队在若开邦/ AA

Bangladeshi Foreign Ministry Advisor Touhid Hossain has defended Bangladesh’s unofficial engagement contact with the Arakan Army, which has taken control of neighboring Rakhine State in Myanmar.

孟加拉国外交部顾问侯赛因为孟加拉国与若开邦军队的非正式接触进行辩护。若开邦军队已经控制了邻国缅甸的若开邦。

Responding to reporters at the Foreign Ministry on Sunday, the advisor said keeping in touch was a “necessity” and in Dhaka’s own interest.

这位顾问周日在外交部回答记者时说，保持联系是“必要的”，也符合达卡自身的利益。

“We have officially acknowledged that the situation along Bangladesh’s border has changed, we cannot deny it,” he said according to bdnews24.com. “The entire stretch of our border with Myanmar is now under the control of non-state actors. The central government has no authority there.”

据bdnews24.com报道，他说：“我们已经正式承认孟加拉国边境的局势已经发生了变化，我们不能否认这一点。”“我们与缅甸的整个边界现在都在非国家行为体的控制之下。中央政府在那里没有权力。”

“Therefore, in our own interest, we must maintain some form of communication. While we cannot engage in official communications with a non-state actor, it is not possible to remain entirely disconnected either. We will maintain whatever level of engagement is necessary,” he added.

“因此，为了我们自己的利益，我们必须保持某种形式的沟通。虽然我们不能与非国家行为体进行官方沟通，但也不可能完全保持不联系。我们将保持任何必要的接触水平。”

The AA began fighting against Myanmar military regime in Rakhine in November 2023 and has since seized 14 of the state’s 17 townships as well as Paletwa Township in neighboring Chin State.

若开军于2023年11月开始在若开邦与缅甸军政府作战，此后占领了该邦17个乡镇中的14个，以及邻近的钦邦的帕列特瓦镇。

Last year it captured the regime’s Western Command headquarters in Rakhine, the second of the 14 the junta’s military commands.

去年，它占领了缅甸军政府在若开邦的西部指挥部，这是缅甸军政府14个军事指挥部中的第二个指挥部。

Myanmar and Bangladesh share a 270 km border, and with the capture of Maungdaw Township last December, the AA took full control of the Myanmar side.

缅甸和孟加拉国有270公里的边境线，随着去年12月占领貌夺镇，缅甸若开军完全控制了缅甸一侧。

The same month, Bangladesh’s interim government announced for the first time that it had opened communication with the AA.

同月，孟加拉国临时政府首次宣布与若开军展开沟通。

Tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims from the border regions of Rakhine fled to Bangladesh in 2017 amid attacks on them by the Myanmar military.

2017年，数万名罗兴亚穆斯林在缅甸军方的袭击下，从若开邦边境地区逃到孟加拉国。

All efforts to repatriate them over the last eight years have failed.

过去八年来遣返他们的所有努力都失败了。

Asked whether engagement with the AA risks dragging Bangladesh into Myanmar’s internal affairs, Touhid said: “Whether or not we become entangled in Myanmar’s internal affairs is another matter. But the conflict in Myanmar is directly linked to our national interest because a large number of their citizens have taken refuge in Bangladesh, and we want to facilitate their return.”

当被问及与若开军的接触是否有将孟加拉国拖入缅甸内政的风险时，图希德说：“我们是否卷入缅甸内政是另一回事。但是缅甸的冲突直接关系到我们的国家利益，因为大量缅甸公民在孟加拉国避难，我们希望为他们的返回提供便利。”

“We must do whatever is necessary to support their repatriation, because our national interest demands it,” he added.

“我们必须采取一切必要措施支持他们的遣返，因为我们的国家利益要求这样做，”他补充说。

The interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus has also agreed to a United Nations proposal to establish a humanitarian assistance channel into Rakhine.

由穆罕默德·尤努斯（Muhammad Yunus）领导的临时政府还同意了联合国关于建立人道主义援助渠道进入若开邦的提议。

作者：伊洛瓦底江         来源：伊洛瓦底江