None will be allowed to trespass into Bangladesh, says home minister

The minister for home affairs, Asaduzzman Khan, on Sunday said Bangladesh would not allow anyone to trespass into its territory in the wake of severe sectarian violence in Myanmar.

He also said Border Guard Bangladesh and  Bangladesh Coast Guard are put on alert near Bangaldesh-Myanmar frontier.

Scores were killed and up to 30,000 people have been displaced by violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, half of them over the course of last weekend when dozens of people died in clashes with the military, the UN said Friday.

Troops have poured into a strip of land along the Bangladesh border, an area which is largely home to the stateless Muslim Rohingya minority, since coordinated attacks on police posts last month.

The army this week said troops have killed nearly 70 people as they hunt the attackers, although activists say the number could be much higher.

Violence escalated over the weekend, with state media reporting troops had killed more than 30 people in two days of fighting after coordinated ambushes forced the army to bring in helicopter gunships.

The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said 15,000 people were believed to have fled their homes over the space of 48 hours.

‘Up to 30,000 people are now estimated to be displaced and thousands more affected by the 9 October armed attacks and subsequent security operations across the north of Rakhine State,’ said a spokesman for the UN OCHA.

‘This includes as many as 15,000 people who, according to unverified information, may have been displaced after clashes between armed actors and the military on 12-13 November.’

Activists have accused troops of killing civilians, raping women and torching homes—allegations the army denies.

- See more at: http://www.newagebd.net/article/3196/none-will-be-allowed-to-trespass-into-bangladesh-says-home-minister#sthash.pe5HAKkP.dpuf