The Naf River ( bn, নাফ নদী ''Naf Nodi'' ; my, နတ်မြစ် ; rki, ) is an international river marking the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

of southeastern

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

and northwestern

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

Geography

The Naf River's average depth is , and maximum depth is . Its width varies from 1.61 km to 3.22 km. It flows into the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line betwee ...

in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

, between the Bangladeshi

Cox's Bazar District Cox's Bazar ( bn, কক্সবাজার জেলা , ''Cox's Bazar Jela'' also ''Cox's Bazar Zila'') is a district in the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh. It is named after Cox's Bazar town. It is located south of Chittagong. Cox's ...

of the Chittagong Division, and the Burmese

Rakhine State Rakhine State (; , , ; formerly known as Arakan State) is a state in Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State to the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady Region to the east, the Bay of Ben ...

. Historically,

Shapuree Island Shapuree, Shahpori, Shah Parir, Shapura, or Shinmabyu Island ( bn, শাহপরী দ্বীপ, Sahapari Dwip; my, ရှင်မဖြူကျွန်း) is located in Bangladesh at the mouth of the Naf River, a maritime-boundary betwe ...

, located at the mouth of the river, has played an important role territorially. It is considered one of the immediate causes for the first

Anglo-Burmese War The Anglo-Burmese Wars were a clash between two expanding empires, the British Empire against the Konbaung Dynasty that became British India‘s most expensive and longest war, costing 5–13 million pounds sterling (£400 million – £1.1 billio ...

St. Martin's Island Saint Martin Island ( bn, সেন্টমার্টিন দ্বীপ) is a small island (area only 3 km2) in the northeastern part of the Bay of Bengal, about 9 km south of the tip of the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf peninsula, and fo ...

is also at the river's mouth.

River incidents with fishermen and refugees

Regular incidents in which

fishermen A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreati ...

and Burmese refugees are shot by the

Tatmadaw Tatmadaw (, , ) is the official name of the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include th ...

(Myanmar Armed Forces), and/or refugees are escorted back to Myanmar by Bangladeshi troops have occurred on the Naf River.
These include but are not limited to the following events: * February 1992 — The Lun Htin, A Burmese paramilitary force, killed 20 refugees who were crossing the Naf River to Bangladesh. * 24 March 1994 — Members of the

Myanmar Army The Myanmar Army ( my, တပ်မတော်(ကြည်း), ) is the largest branch of the Tatmadaw, Armed Forces (''Tatmadaw'') of Myanmar (Burma) and has the primary responsibility of conducting land-based military operations. The My ...

's Western Military Command patrolling the Naf River found a group of

Rohingya The Rohingya people () are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar (previously known as Burma). Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an ...

Muslims fishing from a small country boat. The soldiers tried to extort money from the fishermen, but when they were unable to do so, tied them up with rope and brought them to Balu Khali village in

Maungdaw Township Maungdaw Township ( my, မောင်တောမြို့နယ် ) is a township of Maungdaw District in Rakhine State, Myanmar (Burma). The principal town is Maungdaw. The township has a large Muslim Rohingya population, roughly 80% of ...

. Eight of the Rohingya fishermen were interrogated and tortured for five days, and then they were all shot by firing squad. * 8 January 2000 — a three day skirmish. * 27 October 2001 — Burmese border troops killed one Bangladeshi man, wounded 2, and abducted 13 while they were fishing in the Naf River. * 22 January 2005 — 70 people were shot and killed when Burmese border guards opened fire on a group of 50 boats attempting to cross the Naf River. The border guards claimed that they believed the boats contained "smuggled rice," implying that their actions, culminating in the mass shooting of unarmed people, were justified. * June 2012 — thousands of

Rohingya Muslims The Rohingya people () are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar (previously known as Burma). Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an ...

fleeing sectarian violence in

sought refuge across the Naf River in the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh, though they were often escorted back by Bangladeshi troops. On 11 July 2012, Burmese President

Thein Sein Thein Sein ( my, သိန်းစိန်; IPA: ; born 20 April 1944) is a Burmese politician and retired general in the Myanmar Army who served as the eighth President of Myanmar from 2011 to 2016. He previously served as Prime Minister ...

suggested expelling the Rohingya people from Myanmar or having the UN relocate the 300,000 Rohingya people living in Myanmar, a policy the UN quickly rejected. * August 2017 — The

Border Guard Bangladesh Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) are a paramilitary force responsible for the border security of Bangladesh. The force is known as "The Vigilant Sentinels of the National Frontier". The BGB is entrusted with the responsibility to defend the borde ...

station chief of the Ghumdum border post in Bangladesh accused Myanmar's military of firing on fleeing Rohingyas crossing the Naf River. An AFP reporter counted more than a dozen mortar shells and several heavy machine gun rounds fired by Burmese security forces on fleeing Rohingyas.

References

External links

{{Authority control International rivers of Asia Border rivers Rivers of Bangladesh Rivers of Myanmar Bangladesh–Myanmar border Bay of Bengal Chittagong Division Cox's Bazar District Rakhine State Territorial disputes of Bangladesh Territorial disputes of Myanmar Rivers of Chittagong Division

Geography

River incidents with fishermen and refugees

See also

References

External links