Bangladesh warns Myanmar against border incursions amid Rohingya crisis

Bangladesh has accused Myanmar of repeatedly violating its air space and warned that any more "provocative acts" could have "unwarranted consequences", raising the risk of a deterioration in relations already strained by the Rohingya refugee crisis.

Nearly 400,000 Rohingya Muslims from western Myanmar have crossed into Bangladesh since August 25, fleeing a military crackdown that the UN has branded a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing".

Bangladesh said drones and helicopters had violated its air space three times - on September 10, 12 and 14 - and it had called in a top Myanmar embassy official in Dhaka to complain.

"Bangladesh expressed deep concern at the repetition of such acts of provocation and demanded that Myanmar takes immediate measures to ensure that such violation of sovereignty does not occur again," the ministry said in statement on Friday.

"These provocative acts may lead to unwarranted consequences."

A Myanmar government spokesman said he did not have information about the incidents Bangladesh had complained about but Myanmar had denied an earlier accusation.

Bangladesh has for decades faced an influx of Rohingya fleeing persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where they are denied citizenship, even though many families have lived there for generations.

Bangladesh had already been housing some 500,000 Rohingya. 

The latest crisis erupted on August 25, when Rohingya rebels attacked about 30 police posts and an army camp, killing a dozen people.

The Myanmar troops and Buddhist mobs responded with what rights monitors and fleeing Rohingya say is a campaign of violence and arson aimed at driving out the Muslim population, in which over 400 people have been killed. 

Myanmar has so far denied persecuting Rohingya or burning their villages.  

"Systematic burnings"

On Friday, Amnesty International said it has turned up evidence of an "orchestrated campaign of systematic burnings" by Myanmar security forces targeting dozens of Rohingya villages over the last three weeks.

The human rights group is releasing a new analysis of video, satellite photos, witness accounts and other data that found over 80 sites were torched in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State since an August 25. 

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres who has been calling for cessation of hostilities against Rohingya said on Friday that "Myanmar until now has been completely deaf to our requests."

Myanmar authorities have curtailed access for journalists and human rights experts to Rakhine state in recent months, and Amnesty acknowledged that the breadth of the damage cannot be verified on site. 

It said the full extent of destruction “is likely to be much higher” than the evidence compiled because cloud cover sometimes blocked the satellite views.

Myanmar said on Friday that it will not let US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Patrick Murph visit the northern Rakhine. 

“Not allowed,” Tin Maung Swe, the state government secretary said, when asked if Murphy would be going to Maungdaw district, at the heart of the strife.

The UN-backed, 47-country Human Rights Council in Geneva is expected to take up a discussion on Myanmar on Monday.

Bangladesh building 14,000 shelters

Meanwhile, Bangladesh will build 14,000 new shelters to house the refugees camping on roadsides, in fields and on hills, an official said on Saturday.

Bangladesh authorities said they would build a massive camp on a 2,000 acre plot of land near an existing refugee camp in Kutupalong in Cox's Bazar district, which borders Myanmar.

"We have been told to build the shelters in 10 days. Each shelter will house six refugee families," said Bangladesh's disaster management secretary Shah Kamal, adding the camp would have proper sanitation, water and medical facilities.

Chaotic aid distribution

The United Nations said this week there was an urgent need for a coordinated response to the massive influx of desperate people, most of whom have still had no assistance from aid agencies or the state.

Ordinary Bangladeshis have stepped into the breach, filling trucks and driving to the new settlements that have sprung up.

But their distribution methods make it impossible to ensure that aid reaches those who need it most. 

Each time a truck pulls up, the refugees scramble to grab the food parcels, water bottles and clothing the volunteers throw into the desperate crowd.

"There are more people than food so it is very chaotic," said Sunabhan, a widowed mother of four.

 The 44-year-old  arrived in Bangladesh with her family 10 days ago after fleeing the violence that killed her husband.

"The strong ones run to the trucks and they get the food first, it is more difficult for women and children."

Vivian Tan, spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency, said the government was now trying to set up drop-off points for aid distribution due to concerns over the current ad-hoc arrangements.

"It reflects the generosity of the Bangladeshi public but did raise concerns about the safety of the refugees rushing for aid being tossed off trucks," she said.