China began military exercises along its border with Burma on Saturday, November 25, and called on its nationals to urgently leave the north of the country, which has been in the grip of fighting since the end of October. For its part, Indonesia has strengthened its sea patrols in the Aceh region to prevent the arrival of new boats carrying Rohingya refugees, more than a thousand of whom have disembarked in a week, police said on Saturday and local officials.
Clashes in Burma have intensified, particularly in large areas of northern Shan State, near the Chinese border, locally forcing more than 80,000 people to leave their homes according to the UN.
For the past month, an alliance of several insurgent movements representing ethnic minorities has launched a major offensive against the army in regions close to the Chinese border. These rebels seized dozens of military positions and a strategic city for trade with China.
“Real combat exercises”
In this context, the Chinese army launched “real combat exercises” along the border with Burma, its southern command said in a statement on Saturday, which did not specify the duration of the operations or the number of soldiers involved.
These exercises aim to “test the capacity of the troops (…) to control and close borders and strike with firepower”explains the army, ensuring that it is “ready to respond to all kinds of emergencies”. China informed the Burmese army of these exercises, junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun said on Saturday.
On Friday, junta-backed Myanmar media said opponents of the regular army had used drones to drop bombs on vehicles in Muse, a border town.
The attack, which took place on Thursday, destroyed one hundred and twenty vehicles “transporting household goods, consumer goods, clothing and construction materials”according to Global New Light of Myanmara state media outlet.
A significant part of trade with China passes precisely through this zone. Its blockage for several weeks has deprived the Burmese army of liquidity, which has become precious in an economy that has broken down since the 2021 coup.
In view of the deterioration of the security situation, China on Friday called on its nationals to leave ” as quickly as possible “ northern Burma and to stay away from the fighting.
Indonesia tries to “prevent the arrival of Rohingya”
“Police patrol 24 hours a day, seven days a week to prevent Rohingya refugees from arriving in East Aceh”, for his part declared Saturday the head of the Indonesian AKBP police, Andy Rahmansyah, in a press release. He added that the order had been given “in coastal areas to intensify surveillance, both on the coast and in the Strait of Malacca, in order to prevent the arrival of Rohingya”.
More than a thousand Rohingya refugees have arrived in Indonesia’s far-western province of Aceh since November 14. This is the highest number of arrivals since 2017. Villagers tried last week to push migrant boats back into the sea but authorities eventually welcomed them and transported them to a temporary accommodation center.
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Many Aceh residents have long been sensitive to the plight of this Muslim minority. But some now show hostility towards them and complain about the arrival of these migrants who consume their already limited resources and sometimes come into conflict with the local population.
Predominantly Muslim, the Rohingya are persecuted in Burma and thousands of them risk their lives every year on perilous and costly sea journeys from Bangladesh, most often aboard makeshift boats.
Indonesia is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention and says it is not obliged to welcome migrants arriving from Burma. Bangladesh, for its part, welcomes around a million Rohingya, including some 750,000 who fled repression by the Burmese army in 2017, who are under investigation for “acts of genocide” before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).