What is currently happening along the Cox’s Bazar–Teknaf border makes it seem as if Bangladesh has no government at all. Arakan Army drones are entering Bangladesh’s airspace and conducting surveillance, hundreds of Bangladeshi youths are going to Myanmar to fight and returning with weapons, gunshots are heard almost daily in the Rohingya camps—and what is Muhammad Yunus doing while sitting in Dhaka? There is no answer.
This man came to power with foreign backing, the support of militant groups, and under the protection of sections of the military. The riots that were instigated across the country in July 2024 were not a spontaneous movement; they were a carefully planned conspiracy aimed at overthrowing an elected government. Yunus emerged as a beneficiary of that conspiracy and assumed power. But it is now clear that he has neither the competence nor the interest to run the country.
A leaked intelligence report states that hundreds of Bangladeshi hill-dwelling youths are fighting on behalf of the Arakan Army. They are receiving training, acquiring modern weapons, and then returning home. Reading such information should deprive any normal government of sleep. What happens if these youths return and form militias or join extremist networks? Will an armed insurgency re-emerge in the Chittagong Hill Tracts? Or will these armed individuals spread across the country and launch a new form of terrorism? Yet in Dhaka, there is no one to answer these questions.
The Arakan Army is no longer just a guerrilla force; they are now conducting attacks using drones, which means they possess modern warfare technology. The report also mentions that these drones are entering Bangladeshi territory for surveillance. The question is: where is Bangladesh’s air defense? What is the Border Guard doing? Is there any plan to acquire anti-drone technology, or does the Yunus government know nothing about this at all?
The situation in the Rohingya camps is now completely out of control. Shootouts, kidnappings, and ransom demands occur almost daily. Ordinary Rohingyas are being held hostage by armed groups. ARSA, ARA, Islamic al-Mahaj, and other organizations are fighting among themselves and also clashing with the Arakan Army. In the midst of all this, the Bangladesh government remains entirely silent. There are no effective security measures in the camps—no CCTV, no adequate policing. An intelligence report recommended installing CCTV, yet it is now January 2026. That means Yunus has been in power for more than a year and a half, and even such basic security measures have not been implemented.
The most shameful issue is drug trafficking. The report clearly states that the main source of the Arakan Army’s war economy is yaba smuggled into Bangladesh. Drugs are coming from Myanmar, while food and daily necessities are being sent from Bangladesh. An entire illegal economy is operating, financing a foreign armed group—yet there is no initiative to stop it. On the contrary, it appears this smuggling network is operating freely. The robbery gangs active in the Teknaf–Cox’s Bazar area are linked to this drug trade, and they have become so brazen that they openly shoot and stab each other.
What security analysts are saying is chilling. Colonel Kazi Sharif Uddin has warned that if these trained youths join militias or extremist networks, the situation will become catastrophic. Brigadier General Sarkar Shamsuddin has said that both rehabilitation and surveillance of these war-returned youths are essential, otherwise they will be drawn into crime. But is there any list of these youths? Are they being tracked? Are they being brought under the law? Nothing is happening.
The hard truth is that these issues are not important to the Yunus government. They came to power through an uprising, not through elections. They have no popular mandate and no accountability. They know they do not have to answer to the people. This government survives on foreign support and military backing, which is why it does not care about what is happening at the borders, in the Rohingya camps, whether drugs are being trafficked, or whether armed youths are returning home.
As the country’s chief adviser, Yunus should have immediately convened an emergency meeting upon receiving this intelligence report, deployed the military at the border, established drone defense systems, identified and brought war-returned youths under the law, enforced strict security in the Rohingya camps, and launched coordinated operations to stop drug trafficking. But nothing has happened. The report is probably lying in a file somewhere, while Yunus remains busy meeting foreign donors and securing loans.
A government that comes to power illegally has no real concern for national security; its sole objective is to remain in power. The Yunus government is doing exactly that. The borders are unsecured, the Rohingya camps are unstable, drug trafficking has increased, armed youths are returning—yet the government has taken no action.
If this situation continues for a few more months, the Cox’s Bazar–Teknaf region will fall entirely under criminal control. Drone attacks, armed clashes, kidnappings, and drug trafficking will turn the area into a war zone. And the flames of that war zone will spread across the country. Yet the Yunus government will probably still be busy with foreign trips or delivering speeches on the success of microcredit. Whether the country is destroyed or not seems to make no difference to them.
