Rohingya News Agency-(dhakatribune):‎ Bangladesh, which has in the past opposed the concept of constructing fences on any of its frontiers, has for the first time decided to put up a barbed-wire fence along the Myanmar border, to prevent illegal migration of Rohingya muslims.

“We have approved, in principle, the proposal to construct a barbed-wire [fence] along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, set up searchlights, build watchtowers and 21 new outposts to improve border surveillance,” home minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir told the parliament on Monday.

“We have also proposed adding two more battalions to the BGB [Border Guard, Bangladesh],” he said, replying to a query by the ruling Awami League’s (AL) lawmaker, Nasimul Alam Chowdhury.

He also stated that Rohingyas were still attempting to enter Bangladesh illegally, but were being prevented by the government’s enhanced patrols along the border.

The BGB has pushed approximately 2,600 Rohingyas back to Myanmar since the beginning of the year, official records show.

The government claims that Myanmar’s persecuted muslim minority, referred to as Rohingyas, cause social and economic hardships for the residents of boarder district Cox’s Bazaar when they enter the country illegally.