Bangladesh is maintaining communication with both Myanmar’s military junta in Naypyidaw and the Arakan Army in Rakhine state to promote stability, facilitate humanitarian aid, and advance the long-stalled Rohingya repatriation process, National Security Adviser   Khalilur Rahman, said on Wednesday.

“As the UN wants to provide humanitarian aid, we would like to support that. This can help stabilise the Rakhine state and create conditions for Rohingya repatriation,” Khalilur told The Daily Star.

He confirmed that Bangladesh is directly in talks with Myanmar’s ruling regime and also engaging with the Arakan Army—an armed ethnic group that now controls nearly 80 percent of Rakhine state—through the United Nations.

Khalilur clarified that discussions on establishing a humanitarian channel are focused solely on enabling UN-supervised aid delivery to conflict-affected areas in Rakhine.

“The discussion is ongoing. We will definitely make it public to the nation at the right time,” he added.

The comments came amid growing political debate in Dhaka over Bangladesh’s potential involvement in facilitating cross-border humanitarian access. Concerns over national security and sovereignty were raised after Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain stated on Sunday that Bangladesh agrees “in principle” to a UN-proposed humanitarian corridor, albeit with conditions.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the UN Resident Coordinator’s office in Dhaka confirmed that any such aid delivery from Bangladesh to Myanmar would require formal consent from both governments.

“The UN has a legal obligation to obtain permission from the governments concerned to deliver cross-border assistance. Without this, the UN’s direct involvement is limited,” the spokesperson said.

The situation in Rakhine has deteriorated sharply in recent months amid ongoing conflict between Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced. Since November 2023, more than 113,000 Rohingya refugees have fled into Bangladesh, pushing the total refugee population to approximately 1.3 million.

The UN continues to express alarm over the worsening humanitarian crisis. On Monday, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi briefed the UN Security Council, commending Bangladesh’s interim government for engaging with parties to the conflict in pursuit of a durable solution for the Rohingya crisis.
 

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