Chittagong, Bangladesh: Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Director General Maj. Gen. Aziz Ahmed is scheduled to visit Naypyidaw to meet with officials from Burma’s Border Guard Police (BGP) on June 10th, according to an official BGB statement.
The BGB statement said that “BGB Director General Maj. Gen. Aziz Ahmed will lead an 8-member delegation, while the Director General of Burma’s BGP will lead Burma’s team for the four-day-long talks.”
During the meetings, Bangladesh will demand that Burma punish the Burmese BGP officers allegedly responsible for killing a BGB officer, according to a Bangladeshi Home Ministry official.
The Bangladeshi delegation will also inquire as to why Burmese army troops allegedly moved along the border’s “zero line” without any provocation, an act which would constitute a violation of the international border agreement signed between Bangladesh and Burma in 1980, the Home Ministry official added.
“Myanmar’s border force cannot kill our staff and Myanmar cannot move its military along the frontier. As per the international border agreement, the armed forces of both countries cannot be deployed within five kilometers of the zero line…If the army is deployed for any purpose, their counterparts must be informed about it,” said BGB Director Maj. Gen. Aziz Ahmed.
At the upcoming meeting in Naypyidaw, Maj. Gen. Aziz Ahmed will also urge his Burmese counterparts to commence coordinated patrols in the border areas in order to combat cross-border terrorism and drug trafficking.
Other issues the Bangladeshi delegation intends to discuss include the existence of improvised explosive devices in the border area and problems that Bangladeshi fishermen have encountered on the Naff River (an inlet of the Bay of Bengal which separates Burma and Bangladesh), according to a Home Ministry official.
Bangladesh hopes these meetings will lead to more frequent dialogues between Burmese and Bangladeshi officials and encourage the development of more cultural exchanges such as friendly sporting events.
During the upcoming talks in Naypyidaw the Bangladeshi delegation will also discuss the repatriation of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh to Burma. Sources from Bangladesh’s Relief Ministry have said there are 35,329 Rohingyas currently living in two official refugee camps and over 100,000 Rohingyas living in two unofficial camps, but they are not willing to be repatriated due to concerns about safety and persecution.
Around 250,877 Rohingyas fled from Burma to Bangladesh in 1991. Of them, 236,599 refugees have been repatriated by the UNHCR since 2005.
