ID :
28070
Mon, 11/03/2008 - 09:47
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/28070
The shortlink copeid
Illegal Bangladeshi migrants issue haunts India
New Delhi, Nov 2 (PTI) As the investigators of the Assam
serial blasts pointed the needle of suspicion towards
Harkat-ul Jehad-e-Islam (H.u.J.I.), the issue of continuous
illegal immigration from Bangladesh has again come to fore
with the Centre saying that citizens of the neighbouring
country enter India "clandestinely" through the porous border,
posing serious security threat.
"The government is aware of the presence of illegal
Bangladeshi migrants in various parts of the country. Since,
they enter clandestinely and also mingle with the local
population quite easily due to ethnic, linguistic and cultural
similarities, exact and realistic estimates about their number
are not available," a top Home Ministry official said.
Interestingly, the Border Security Force (B.S.F.), which
guards the 4,095-km-long porous Indo-Bangla border, has
recently disclosed that 12 lakh Bangladeshis, who had entered
India between 1972 and 2005 with valid documents, have not
returned home.
While 25,712 out of 5,00,234 Bangladeshi nationals did
not return after expiry of their visa in 2007, more than
24,000 remained missing in 2006 when 4.84 lakh had entered
India with valid travel documents.
Though the government has adopted a multi-pronged
approach to contain infiltration from Bangladesh which
includes round the clock surveillance, patrolling and fencing,
unabated influx from across the border is posing serious
security threat as probe into the recent serial blasts in
different parts of the country has links to India's eastern
neighbour.
Last year, the B.S.F. had intercepted 807 Bangladeshis
trying to illegally cross over to India but officials said the
actual infiltration is roughly estimated to be double the
numbers intercepted.
The figure was almost 10,000-12,000 till a few years
back.
Interestingly, the number of missing Bangladeshis --
62,547 between 2005-07 -- is much higher than the number of
Pakistanis, 22,097, who had come to India using proper visa
and subsequently remained traceless.
While 7,404 Pakistanis did not return after expiry of
their visas in 2007, the figure was 7,650 in 2006 and 7,043 in
2005.
However, Home Ministry officials said 40,743 illegal
Bangladeshi nationals were deported during last three years --
14,916 in 2005, 13,692 in 2006 and 12,135 in 2007.
In Assam, between 1985 and 2007, only 1,547 illegal
Bangladeshi nationals were deported under the now scrapped
I.M.D.T. Act and 674 under the Foreigners Act.
Altogether 12,846 Bangladeshis were identified by the
I.M.D.T. tribunals until the Act was scrapped in 2005. Of
these, 1,547 were deported, while there was no information
about the rest.
serial blasts pointed the needle of suspicion towards
Harkat-ul Jehad-e-Islam (H.u.J.I.), the issue of continuous
illegal immigration from Bangladesh has again come to fore
with the Centre saying that citizens of the neighbouring
country enter India "clandestinely" through the porous border,
posing serious security threat.
"The government is aware of the presence of illegal
Bangladeshi migrants in various parts of the country. Since,
they enter clandestinely and also mingle with the local
population quite easily due to ethnic, linguistic and cultural
similarities, exact and realistic estimates about their number
are not available," a top Home Ministry official said.
Interestingly, the Border Security Force (B.S.F.), which
guards the 4,095-km-long porous Indo-Bangla border, has
recently disclosed that 12 lakh Bangladeshis, who had entered
India between 1972 and 2005 with valid documents, have not
returned home.
While 25,712 out of 5,00,234 Bangladeshi nationals did
not return after expiry of their visa in 2007, more than
24,000 remained missing in 2006 when 4.84 lakh had entered
India with valid travel documents.
Though the government has adopted a multi-pronged
approach to contain infiltration from Bangladesh which
includes round the clock surveillance, patrolling and fencing,
unabated influx from across the border is posing serious
security threat as probe into the recent serial blasts in
different parts of the country has links to India's eastern
neighbour.
Last year, the B.S.F. had intercepted 807 Bangladeshis
trying to illegally cross over to India but officials said the
actual infiltration is roughly estimated to be double the
numbers intercepted.
The figure was almost 10,000-12,000 till a few years
back.
Interestingly, the number of missing Bangladeshis --
62,547 between 2005-07 -- is much higher than the number of
Pakistanis, 22,097, who had come to India using proper visa
and subsequently remained traceless.
While 7,404 Pakistanis did not return after expiry of
their visas in 2007, the figure was 7,650 in 2006 and 7,043 in
2005.
However, Home Ministry officials said 40,743 illegal
Bangladeshi nationals were deported during last three years --
14,916 in 2005, 13,692 in 2006 and 12,135 in 2007.
In Assam, between 1985 and 2007, only 1,547 illegal
Bangladeshi nationals were deported under the now scrapped
I.M.D.T. Act and 674 under the Foreigners Act.
Altogether 12,846 Bangladeshis were identified by the
I.M.D.T. tribunals until the Act was scrapped in 2005. Of
these, 1,547 were deported, while there was no information
about the rest.
