Amid Bangladesh's Objection, India Continues to 'Push Back' Undocumented Migrants Across Border
New Delhi: Around 160 undocumented migrants from Bangladesh were taken to Agartala from Ghaziabad on Sunday (May 25) in an Indian Air Force (IAF) plane for being sent back to their home country.
The migrants shifted to Agartala included women and children who were detained by the Delhi police from outer Delhi last week, as part of a drive to identify undocumented immigrants, reported The Hindu.
An official told the newspaper that the transportation was in line with the Indian government’s decision to not wait for deportation processes which could be “lengthy” and instead send the migrants to Bangladesh.
The Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh had earlier sent a letter to India on May 8 “raising concern over people being pushed into the country and urged New Delhi to adhere to established repatriation mechanisms”.
At the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, more than 500 migrants have been sent back to Bangladesh through the eastern border.
Across the country, the police have been conducting drives to identify undocumented migrants following which the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) is informed.
Once the migrants are detained, their biometrics are recorded and Indian identification documents made by them are cancelled. The biometrics are recorded to ensure that if they return to India again in future, they are not able to register for the Aadhar card, which blacklists them on the basis of the biometrics.
Thereafter, they are handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF) which sends them across the border.
Earlier this month, on May 4, two Air India planes transported 300 undocumented migrants, including 200 women and children to Agartala in Tripura. The migrants, who were earlier detained in Gujarat were subsequently sent to Bangladesh via the land border.
Brigadier General Md. Nazim-ud-Daula, director of the Military Operations Directorate of the Bangladesh Army, said on Monday (May 26) at a press conference in Dhaka that such “push-ins are unacceptable”.
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