The border area between Bangladesh and Myanmar has become a war zone as the Arakan Army, an insurgent group in the latter, is in fierce battle against the junta-led Myanmar Army. It was learnt that the Arakan Army took control of Rathedaung in Rakhine state on Monday.

After fierce fighting of two weeks, around 200 Junta soldiers managed to flee on Sunday night, confirmed Irrawaddy, a news outlet of Myanmar journalists living in exile.

However, the situation is volatile and not only the hapless Rohingyas who are trapped on both sides of the border but also the lives of Bangladeshi living near the frontier are in danger.

During the skirmishes, junta soldiers used the Rohingyas as human shields before fleeing. But, as history suggests, they will try to come back with even greater force and make the lives of Rohingyas even more miserable.

On the other side of the border, some villages in Teknaf were shaken by at least over 20 mortar shells on Sunday night. The shells exploded at Nakpura area near Maungdaw township in Myanmar.

Teknaf pourashava’s panel mayor Mujibur Rahman told the media that at least 13 villages under Teknaf were shaken by the explosions.

One can imagine that the situation may become worse if the war escalated. We have seen Rohingya issue has gone to the backseat for the humanitarian agencies with Gaza genocide and Ukraine War. The social tensions in Cox’s Bazar between the Rohingyas, who are kept in the camps, and local people got stretched.

The Bangladesh government failed miserably to resolve the issue. Its inept diplomacy failed to force Myanmar to repatriate the Rohingyas and the big global powers failed spectacularly.

Unfortunately, the meek diplomacy of the current regime, which has very little legitimacy and esteem in the global scale after another scandalous election, cannot tackle the dire situation.

The worst may yet come.

The Boxer: The author is one of the indefatigable working-class Bangladeshis who have been trying to change the fate of the nation but were betrayed by the ruling elites and autocrats. The name is inspired by a character in George Orwell's 1945 novel Animal Farm.