The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is going to set up a liaison mechanism on the border with Myanmar to curb border crimes, especially trafficking, sources in the of home affairs ministry said. This is being done when thousands of Rohingyas are crossing over to Bangladesh, fleeing from violence in Myanmar.

Before setting up the liaison office, the UN body wants to provide training to some senior officials of law enforcement agencies like the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Bangladesh Customs and the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC).

Already the regional office (South Asia) of UNODC has sent a letter to the ministry to nominate eight officials from relevant law enforcement agencies for undergoing training at different border liaison offices in southeast Asia in order

to sensitise and expose them to the practical working of such offices. The training would be held in October, according to the proposal.

A senior official of the Public Security Division of the home ministry told The Independent, on condition of anonymity, that the UNODC also proposed to organise an experts group meeting in Dhaka, in collaboration with the BGB, RAB and the DNC, to asses the threat of border crimes.

“The proposed experts group will share its experiences by making presentations to brainstorm on key threats at border crossings with Myanmar to identify border crimes, illicit trafficking trends and hotspots, gaps in capacities and responses,” he said. The official ialso said that the experts group will also hold a meeting on September 20-22 in Dhaka to help finalise the threat assessment of Bangladesh-Myanmar border crimes.

The UNODC was established to assist the UN in better organising a coordinated, comprehensive response to the interrelated issues of illicit  trafficking in and abuse of drugs, crime prevention and criminal justice, international terrorism and political corruption.

It mainly deals with alternative development, corruption, criminal justice, prison reform and crime prevention, drug prevention and its treatment and care, HIV and AIDS, human trafficking and migrant smuggling, money laundering, organised crime, piracy and terrorism prevention.