One hundred and seventy-three Bangladeshis jailed in Myanmar have returned to Bangladesh.

They arrived at the Nuniar Chora dock in Cox’s Bazar at 1:20pm on Wednesday.

A Bangladesh Navy ship conveyed them from Myanmar naval ship Chin Dwin, anchored in the deep sea, to the dock.

Of the 172 returnees, 129 are from the Cox’s Bazar district, 30 are from Bandarban, seven are from Rangamati, and one each are from Khagrachhari, Noakhali, Narayanganj, Chattogram, Rajbari, Narsingdi, and Nilphamari.

The BGB will receive the returnees before they are turned over to police, said Md Mahafuzul Islam, superintendent of Cox’s Bazar police.

A special advance delegation from Myanmar brought the Bangladeshis on a trawler to Cox’s Bazar around 11am.

After the group arrived in Cox’s Bazar, they were sent to Bandarban’s Naikhongchhari Upazila. There, 285 members of the Myanmar military and Border Guard Police who fled across the border amid fighting between junta forces and rebels are in the custody of the BGB.

The delegation will then convey them back to Myanmar.

Previously, on Feb 15, the government repatriated a total of 330 individuals, including members of Myanmar's border guards and armed forces, who had fled the ongoing conflict in Rakhine state.

The group included 302 BGP personnel, four of their family members, two army men, 18 immigration officials and four civilians.

Bangladesh was preparing to send back 285 Myanmar border guards and army personnel in the second phase on Monday, but the repatriation was deferred to Wednesday.

FAMILIES WAIT ANXIOUSLY

Nabi Hossain from Ramu Upazila spoke at the Nuniarchar jetty.

He said the returnees included his brother Jagir Hossain and three others from his neighbourhood. His brother went missing a year and a half ago. Later, the family learned he was detained in Myanmar while headed to Malaysia by sea route after being lured by middlemen.

Nabi was waiting at the jetty when police informed them his brother would return after a year and a half.

Badiul Alam from Mohshkhali’s Shaplapur was waiting for his son Joynal Abedin, who also went missing on his way to Malaysia a year and a half ago.

Five more people from his locality were accompanying his son, Badiul said.            

Most of the family members of the returnees said they were caught in Myanmar while attempting to go to Malaysia illegally.

The BGB would receive the returnees and hand them over to the police, said Cox’s Bazar Police Superintendent Md Mahfuzul Islam. Later, they would be handed to their families through their respective police stations, he said.

Myanmar naval ship Chin Dwin is coming to take back members of its defence force who took refuge in Bangladesh, according to the Bangladesh High Commission in Yangon.

Of the 173 Bangladeshis returning, at least 144 of them have already served full terms in a Myanmar prison. The other 29 of them were pardoned by the Myanmar government through a negotiation by the Bangladesh mission.