Bangladesh today (July 17) requested India to stop illegal entry of Myanmar nationals into Bangladesh from India.

The Bangladesh delegation came up with the request as the four-day director general-level conference between Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Border Security Force (BSF) of India begins in Dhaka today.

A concern was triggered after police and intelligence officials recently said many of the Rohingyas, who lived in different places in India, sneaked into Bangladesh with the help of brokers.

Some of them were detained by law enforcers and later sent to the transitional camps in Cox's Bazar.

Though there is no official record of the number of Rohingyas entering so far, this newspaper quoting officials reported in May that some 500 of them may have entered Bangladesh from India over the previous one month.

The new inflow creates an additional burden for the country as Bangladesh is already hosting nearly one million of the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals.

Fruitful discussions were held on preventing the illegal entry of Myanmar nationals into Bangladesh from India at the conference held at BGB headquarters in Pilkhana, said a press release issued by the BGB today.

Killing of Bangladeshi nationals on the border topped the list of issues discussed at the meeting.

According to human-rights organisation Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), five people were shot dead on the border by BSF between January and June this year. Also, four people were wounded while six were abducted during the period.

Last year, 16 people were shot dead, one each was tortured to death and died being chased by BSF, nine were injured and three were abducted by the Indian border security force, ASK statistics shows.

The Bangladesh and Indian delegations at the conference also discussed on strategies to prevent illegal trespassing, smuggling of drugs, arms and ammunition and gold, and various border crimes including trafficking of women and children.

The discussion also included protection of border riverbanks, exchange of immediate information regarding activities of various armed extremist-terrorist groups, and taking joint initiatives to implement the Coordinated Border Management Plan (CBMP), the release added.

BGB Director General (DG) Major General Shakil Ahmed led a 20-member Bangladesh delegation at the conference which includes top BGB officials and representatives from the Prime Minister's Office, foreign and home ministries.

BSF DG Shri Pankaj Kumar Singh led the nine-member Indian delegation which includes senior officers from the BSF headquarters and the officials of the ministries of home affairs and external affairs of India.

The 52nd border conference is scheduled to end on July 21.