Border forces of Bangladesh and Myanmar Wednesday agreed to work together to step up security in the border areas to ensure the safety of people and maintain peace.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Border Guard Police (BGP) of Myanmar decided this at a conference in Maungdaw.

Police Brigadier General Htet Lwin, commander of BGP No. 1 Commanding Office, Maungdaw, led a 15-member Myanmar delegation, and BGB Cox's Bazar Regional Commander Brigadier General Nazam-us-Sakib led a 16-member Bangladesh delegation, said BGB headquarters Public Relations Officer Md Shariful Islam. 

The meeting discussed issues like Bangladesh-Myanmar border security management, smuggling of drugs – including yaba, crystal meth (ice) – into Bangladesh from Myanmar; prevention of illegal entry into Bangladesh from Myanmar, cross-border crime, and the busting of terrorists or miscreants' camps or dens in border areas.

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It also talked about improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted by Myanmar, electrified barbed-wire fences of the country at the border, and facilitation of the speedy release of Bangladeshi nationals who were detained after inadvertently or wrongly crossing into Myanmar.

The two sides discussed the complete activation of the Border Liaison Office (BLO) of both the countries, joint patrols and pillar inspections on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.

Through the conference, the BGB delegation was able to bring back four Bangladeshi nationals who were waiting to return home after their imprisonment in Myanmar. 

The last border conference between the border forces was held on October 19, 2019.