The Border Guard Police (BGP) of Myanmar has demanded Bangladesh remove CCTVs and solar lights that were installed along the Tambru-Konarpara border in Ghumdum area under Naikhongchhari upazila of Bandarban.
The demand was raised at a battalion commander-level flag between BGP and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on May 23.
The meeting was held on the Bangladesh side near Friendship Bridge in Ghumdum, Lt Col Khalid Hasan, director (operations) of BGB Cox's Bazar Ad-hoc Region, told the Dhaka Tribune.
The border security forces of the two neighbouring countries also talked about over Rohingyas stranded in the Konapara no man’s land, launching regular joint patrols along borders, and holding a regional commander-level meeting on improving bilateral border relations, several BGB officials said on condition of anonymity.
A statement on the website of Myanmar President's Office too says BGP at the meeting raised objections to Bangladesh’s installation of four CCTV cameras and 10 solar lamps.
The president's office also accused Bangladesh of turning a blind eye to human habitation and increasing population along the border, which it claims is a breach a border agreement between the two countries.
Such measures suggest “Bangladesh’s support for illegal activities”, the statement reads.
Naypyidaw called on Dhaka to control human habitation along the border and remove all installations “as soon as possible as they break the rules of the United Nations.”
They also urged Bangladesh to refrain from constructing “illegal” structures in non-construction zones, and providing escort facilities to those who take shelter in those structures to distribute food among the stranded people.
However, BGB told BGP that the CCTVs and solar lights were installed as part of Bangladesh’s measures to heighten security and surveillance on its side, the officials said.
Denying Naypyidaw’s claims, Bangladesh urged Myanmar to reduce the volume of announcements delivered through loudspeakers near the border, as the noise emanating from loudspeakers causes fears and anxiety among people and hampers activities at schools and training centres on the Bangladesh side.
BGP claimed their announcements through loudspeakers were meant to warn and prevent illegal human habitation in the no man’s land.
BGB officials said they requested BGP to inform them if they undertake any security measures and build infrastructures along the border.
About holding the regional commander-level meeting, BGB claimed they reminded the BGP chief of the matter on several occasions, but they did not receive any feedback.
Asked about Myanmar’s call for not constructing any buildings along the border, BGB officials said construction of infrastructures near the borderline was not prohibited.
BGB-34 Battalion installed four CCTVs and a total of 45 solar lamps at Tambru in early March, when Myanmar’s security forces suddenly started heightening their presence in the no man’s land between Bangladesh’s Konarpara and Myanmar’s Tambru border points, sparking fears among the Rohingya people stranded there and renewing tension between the two neighbours.
Last year, BGB set up a central surveillance system with modern devices at its headquarters in Dhaka, from where higher-up of the force can monitor all outposts at Tambru and communicate with BGB troops deployed there.
On Sunday, the Dhaka Tribune tried multiple times to contact BGB 34 Battalion Commanding Officer Lt Col Monzurul Hassan to dig deeper into issues discussed at the May 23 meeting, but he could not be reached as his mobile phone was found switched off.
Then, it sent an email to Myanmar embassy in Dhaka over the meeting, but none from the mission has responded as yet.
Around 6,500 Rohingya people have taken shelter in Tambru no man’s land since August 25 last year, when ethnic conflicts in Myanmar’s Rakhine state sparked the most rapid human exodus seen since the Rwandan genocide in 1994.
Since then, more than 700,000 Rohingyas have crossed into Bangladesh in fear of their lives over the past six months, joining more than 400,000 others who were already living in cramped makeshift camps in Cox’s Bazar.