Is India 'pushing in' illegal immigrants through eastern border? Here's what Bangladesh army said

There are reportedly more than 2 crore illegal immigrants in India and a considerable percentage of them are from Bangladesh. The Centre has clamped down on such people across the country before handing them over to the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB). Many of these illegals, who completed their jail sentences, have their nationality verification pending since 2020.

Now the Bangladesh Army has accused India of "pushing in" undocumented individuals, saying illegal immigrants should be deported through proper channels. Brigadier General Md Nazim-ud-Daula who is the director of Bangladesh's Military Operations Directorate, said the BGB has been handling the issue effectively "within international protocols". but added that the army was read to intervene if the government instructed.

"The army is prepared to step in if needed or upon government instruction. Regardless, the situation is not something we consider acceptable," he said.

This comes after the Ministry of External Affairs asked Bangladesh to verify the nationality of 2,300 illegal immigrants. "We have a pending list of 2,369 people who are required to be deported," said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. "Foreigners staying in India illegally, whether they happen to be Bangladeshi nationals or any other national, will be dealt with as per law."

According to official estimates, India's BSF handed over 295 illegal immigrants to Bangladesh's BGB in 2024. In January this year, around 500 Bangladeshi and Rohingya illegal immigrants were nabbed in Jaipur while 27 Bangladeshis were taken into custody in Kerala the same month.

In Kerala, the intelligence agencies have been monitoring whether these illegal immigrants include Intelligence agencies are also monitoring whether operatives linked to Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a militant Islamist organisation banned by India in 2019. Police said the migrants had been using forged documents including fake Aadhaar cards. Their nationality was verified using their Bengali dialect and digital evidence from their phones.

More than 1,000 Bangladeshi illegals were also caught in Surat and Ahmedabad in April. The Daily Star, a Bangladeshi news outlet, reported that around 370 individuals were brought from India between May 4 and 15.

On May 23, Haryana police arrested 59 Bangladeshi citizens, including women and children, staying without legal documents during a raid at a brick kiln in Palwal. The same day, 153 illegals from Bangladesh were brought from Jodhpur to Kolkata for deportation.

On May 24, nine members of a Bangladeshi family was apprehended by Delhi Police in Bharat Nagar. They had crossed into India via Cooch Behar and moved to Haryana's Mewat.

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