Ruling Awami League lawmaker and whip Shaimum Sarwar Kamal told Jatiya Sangsad on Sunday that had there not been a cantonment, the Cox鈥檚 Bazar area would have been occupied by the Arakan Army.
鈥業f there had not been a cantonment, the Cox鈥檚 Bazar area would have been occupied by the Arakan Army,鈥� said the ruling party whip in Jatiya Sangsad while participating in a discussion on the proposed budget for the financial year 2024-25.
Myanmar鈥檚 Arakan Army is fighting an armed struggle, the lawmaker from the Cox鈥檚 Bazar-3 constituency said, adding that their location is just two kilometres from his constituency.
鈥楥ox鈥檚 Bazar would have been unsafe if the prime minister had not given the cantonment. The prime minister has already given Tk 20,000 crore for the cantonment. She saved us,鈥� he said.
Kamal demanded forming a regional security council comprising Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Nepal, the Maldives and Sri Lanka.
鈥楾hen Bangladesh鈥檚 security will be ensured, and India鈥檚 security will not be threatened,鈥� he said.
Claiming that thousands of people from Cox鈥檚 Bazar are in various prisons abroad, he said that many people from his areas detained in Myanmar prisons had been brought back.
He demanded return of Bangladeshis detained in various countries through the foreign ministry.
鈥榃hen the expatriates of Cox鈥檚 Bazar district who live in the Arabian Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia, go to various missions [diplomatic missions] to renew their passports, the officials in the missions do not recognise them. They call the expatriate Bangladeshi nationals Rohingya,鈥� he alleged.
He complained that the mission people didn鈥檛 understand the difference between the language of Cox鈥檚 Bazar people and that of Rohingyas.
He urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to appoint officials who could understand the language of Cox鈥檚 Bazar to the respective missions so that the people were not harassed.
