Bangladesh, India to repatriate illegal immigrants via 'mutually agreed processes'

Over 2,000 people, including 173 Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims and 'Indian nationals,' forced into Bangladesh since May this year, official tells Anadolu

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – The Indian Border Security Force (BSF) has assured that illegal immigrants will be repatriated through "mutually agreed processes" after the Bangladesh border force expressed concerns about illegal push-ins by border troops, including Indian citizens and Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims.

The concern was raised during the four-day 56th Border Conference at the Director General level between Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and the BSF, which concluded on Thursday at BGB headquarters in Dhaka.

BGB Director General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui led a 21-member Bangladeshi delegation, and BSF Director General Daljit Singh Chaudhary headed an 11-member Indian delegation.

According to a joint statement issued by the BGB, it expressed concern over "illegal push-ins of individuals, Indian nationals, and Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (Rohingya) into Bangladesh by BSF."

Bangladesh also urged India to follow established procedures for repatriating illegal entrants.

The BSF chief assured that "Bangladeshi nationals residing illegally in India would be repatriated following mutually agreed upon processes," according to the statement.

The BSF and the Indian Navy "pushed more than 2,000 people, including 173 Rohingya and Indian nationals, into Bangladesh since May this year," a BGB official told Anadolu over the phone, requesting anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to the media.

The Bangladeshi side expressed deep concern over "indiscriminate shootings and killings of innocent Bangladeshi nationals by BSF and Indian citizens along the border," the statement said.

The BSF reiterated its commitment to preventing "recurrence of border killings by adopting additional precautionary measures and intensifying night patrols."

The two countries share a 4,096-kilometer (2,545-mile) land border, which is one of the world's longest.

According to Ain-o-Salish Kendra, a local human rights organization, between January and July of this year, 22 people were killed by bullets and physical assault, 32 were injured, and 12 were abducted by the BSF. However, four people returned after the abduction, it added.

Another group, Odhikar, reported that between 2000 and 2020, 1,236 Bangladeshis were killed and 1,145 injured in BSF-related shootings along the border.

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