Illegal Immigrants From Bangladesh: The Racket Is Flourishing
Yogendra is freelance writer
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By Yogendra
First publised on 2020-08-22 19:36:14
About the Author
Yogendra is freelance writer
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The BSF has arrested a woman from the border with Bangladesh near Petropole in West Bengal. The woman used to work as domestic help in Mumbai and used to visit her native village in Bangladesh once every year. Her husband is a hawker in Mumbai. She claims that they have been staying there for the last 20 years. She had all Indian documents like Voters Identification card, Aadhar card and PAN card. The BSF apprehended her when she was trying to cross the international border to come to India with the help of agents. The agents escaped, as they usually do.
The porous international border between India and Bangladesh facilitates such illegal entry. Illegal immigrants enter in Assam, West Bengal and Tripura. There is a huge racket involving agents of all kinds who take money from these illegal immigrants and arrange their entry into India, provide them with all local identity and address proof documents and transportation to any part of India. Political parties and politicians in border districts are also allegedly involved as these illegal immigrants offer a ready-made vote bank. Hence, one can find illegal Bangladeshi immigrants (their language and manner of speech is a dead giveaway) doing all kinds of jobs across the country. There are unconfirmed allegations that some sections of the BSF are also involved in the racket.
The woman who was caught is an exception. Every day, thousands cross the border illegally. Some of them work during the day and return at night. Others have made India their permanent residence and visit their homes in Bangladesh occasionally. Previously, these intruders were scared and remained in towns and villages near the border in order to cross over if something went wrong. But since the system has become almost foolproof through repeated use and the offenders are seldom detected, these people have now become bold and are not afraid to go to places like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi or any other place where the labour contractors take them.
India has built a fence across 70 percent of the border with Bangladesh but it has not been very effective in controlling the intrusion. The only way to stop this is to go after the 'mafia' that facilitates their entry and the subsequent 'conversion' into Indian residents. While it might seem to be a Herculean task, it is not so if it is seen that most of these agents operate from the border towns in West Bengal, Assam and Tripura. Their modus operandi is well known. If the agencies make a concerted effort to bust the racket, they can do so. Perhaps, the political will is missing.
