Don't push-in, repatriate any illegal Bangladeshi living in India through diplomatic channels: Bangladesh

Border Security Force (BSF) personnel patrol along the India-Bangladesh border, at Phulbari, on the outskirts of Siliguri. (PTI/File Photo)

Bangladesh Home Affairs Adviser Lieutenant General (Retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury on Saturday said that his government has informed India that if any Bangladeshi citizen is residing in India illegally, they should be returned through proper channels and, similarly, any Indian nationals found to be staying in Bangladesh without authorisation, they will be repatriated following legal procedures and through proper diplomatic channels.

Chowdhury was quoted by The Dhaka Tribune newspaper claiming that "Bangladesh does not engage in push-ins like India but believes in resolving issues through diplomacy." “Bangladesh has always abided by international laws and protocols,” he added.

Informing that Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has written to India regarding the matter, stated that his country's Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain and National Security Adviser and Chief Adviser’s High Representative on Rohingya Affairs Khalilur Rahman are maintaining diplomatic communication on the issue with their Indian counterparts.

PTI report stated that Chowdhury claimed that on Friday, an attempt was made by India “to push in individuals along the Brahmanbaria border, which was foiled with the help of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Ansar members, and local residents”. He added: “We have requested the Indian side not to conduct push-ins but to follow formal repatriation procedures.”
“If the local community remains united and vigilant, such push-ins can be resisted,” he stated while inaugurating the third floating Border Outpost in Satkhira.

This comes a day after 90 Bangladeshi nationals, including children, were apprehended from Uttar Pradesh's Mathura district for alleged illegal stay in India. Police officials informed that many of those apprehended had lived illegally in India for over ten years, with some even obtaining PAN and Aadhaar cards as proof of residence.

PTI reported police officials as saying that the Bangladeshi nationals — 37 men, 31 women and 22 children — were arrested from local brickyards at Khajpur village under Mathura's Naujheel police station limits.

The adult men and women have been booked under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946, and other sections of BNS on the instruction of the district magistrate, the officials said, adding that 31 mobile phones, one PAN card, two original Aadhaar cards and four photocopies were seized from them during the operation.

According to police, all the Bangladeshi nationals belonged to Kudigram district in Bangladesh.

Also on Saturday, the Government on India imposed port restrictions on the import of goods like readymade garments and processed food items from Bangladesh, in response to similar curbs placed by Dhaka on certain Indian products last month.

According to the notification of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), these port restrictions will not apply to Bangladeshi goods transiting through India but destined for Nepal and Bhutan.

And on the heels of Bangladesh's Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus again commenting on "landlocked" northeastern states of India, the Government of India gave a go-ahead to a 166.80 km greenfield high-speed corridor linking Shillong in Meghalaya to Silchar in Assam to aid connectivity and spur economic development in the northeastern states.