Policy shift on illegal migrants sparks concerns, worsens ties with Bangladesh

The BJP government at the Centre has done away with the legal and diplomatic procedures to deal with cross-border infiltration in a policy shift that has made Indian citizens vulnerable to harassment and further strained the relationship with Bangladesh.

Instead of deporting them through diplomatic dialogues, the government straight away “pushed back” hundreds of “illegal” migrants to Bangladesh in the past fortnight.

The expelled “illegal” migrants were identified through an ongoing nationwide police crackdown and not legal procedures.

The legal process

“The due course for expulsion of an individual is to first establish the person as an illegal migrant through legal process, including the person’s right to present a defence and to appeal the decision,” said Sishir Dey, a former member of a Foreigners' Tribunal (FT) in Assam.

The FTs are quasi-judicial bodies established to determine if a person is a foreigner according to the Foreigners Act.

It may be mentioned that Foreigners Tribunals do not essentially determine the nationality of a person whose case is referred to it. They merely determine whether a person of doubtful citizenship status is a citizen of India or a foreigner.

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The nationality of the doubtful citizen is often a point of contention in the deportation process.

“So, if a declared foreigner is alleged to be a Bangladeshi, Bangladesh is not bound to accept it without any further proof especially when the person is not admitting to be from Bangladesh,” Dey pointed out.

“The next step involves diplomatic parleys between the sender and recipient countries for a dignified repatriation,” he added.

Dey, however, categorically stated that there is no scope for push back, i.e., leaving the person out of the international border in no man's land, forcefully putting his life at jeopardy.

“Such a process is against human rights,” he pointed out.

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Around 500 people have been sent back to Bangladesh through the push-back mechanism as the crackdown against undocumented migrants from Bangladesh intensified following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, official sources said.

Resistance from Bangladesh

The exercise did not get much attention in India until Tuesday (May 27) when Bangladesh tried to resist the “push back.”

The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) mobilised local residents to send back to India 14 individuals who were earlier pushed into Bangladesh by India’s Border Security Force (BSF) through the international border in South Salmara Mankachar district of Assam, Mankachar legislator Aminul Islam told The Federal.

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The BSF reportedly fired a few rounds in the air to disperse the mob.

The BSF, however, in a statement said there was an infiltration attempt from Bangladesh’s side and it was thwarted.

14 persons stranded

The standoff left the 14 individuals, nine men and five women, stranded on “no-man's land” near border pillar number 1067 for hours, sources said.

A video later surfaced showing a man, stated to be one of those 14 individuals, claiming himself to be a schoolteacher from Assam’s Morigaon district. The Federal could not independently verify the authenticity of the video. The man in the video asserted that he owned land and house in Assam and that his mother and brother were members of the local self-government.

He was heard saying that on Tuesday early morning he was pushed across the border along with others.

The president of the All-India United Democratic Front (AIUDF)’s women wing Hasina Ahmed told The Federal that the man in the video is Khairul Islam. He has been serving as a teacher in a government school since 1997, she said, adding a case over his citizenship status is pending in the Supreme Court.

He was picked up from his home on May 23 and was sent to the Matiya detention camp in Goalpara.

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Ahmed, who is also an advocate, said another expelled person has been identified as Manikjan Begum, a resident of Assam’s Darang district. She has been “pushed back” along with her nine-month-old child. The AIUDF leader said her party is trying to ascertain the identity of the other 12 pushed into Bangladesh on Tuesday.

After remaining stranded at a paddy field in no-man’s land, they were taken by the BGB to its Boraibari camp for legal action on Wednesday (May 28), said sources in Bangladesh.

The Mankachar MLA, however, said they were sent back to the no-man's land by the BGB.

"Even at this hour of night, they are camping near the border under the open sky. Neither the BSF nor the BGB are allowing them to enter into their territory for shelter," Islam said.

He said his party is exploring legal measures to address the humanitarian crisis.

The BGB reportedly opposed the push back following a nudge from the army. The army reportedly told the border guards that it will step in if the BGB fails to prevent what it called “push in.” A message in this regard was reportedly conveyed earlier this week by the Bangladesh Army's operations director Brigadier General M Nazim-ud-Daula.

Meanwhile, an AIUDF delegation called on Assam governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya on Wednesday evening to convey their “deep concern and strong protest against the continued harassment of Indian Muslims in Assam under the pretext of identifying and apprehending so-called illegal foreigners”.

People, mostly from the Muslim community, were harassed even after producing valid documents such as voter ID card, Aadhar card, and land records, the delegation told the governor.

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“Such repeated incidents have created an atmosphere of fear and anxiety among a large section of our population, particularly among poor and marginalised Muslims.”

They demanded that legal diligence should be exercised while detecting and deporting illegal migrants.

The party will hold protests in every district of Assam on May 29 and 30.

The much-hyped publication of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) to identify the illegal migrants in Assam has been in limbo since 2019, keeping the issue alive for politicking.