India said on Friday there is an established mechanism with Bangladesh to verify the nationality of suspected illegal migrants and deport them while responding to Dhaka’s contention that it foiled several attempts by Indian authorities to “push back” people into the neighbouring country.
“All foreign nationals in India, if they are here illegally, including from Bangladesh, we have laws to deal with them and they’ll be accordingly dealt with,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a regular media briefing.
There is a bilateral mechanism in place for deporting such individuals, Jaiswal said while responding to a question about the claim by Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) that it detected 10 attempted infringements along several sections of the border.
“We refer these cases to the Bangladeshi side, for them to verify the nationality of these people, and once it is verified, then we take forward the deportation process,” Jaiswal said.
“We have…many of these requests, which are still pending with the Bangladeshi side, and we hope and expect that they’ll be expedited as soon as possible so that the deportation of people who are illegally staying in India can be taken forward in a smooth and efficient manner.”
The external affairs ministry said last month that India has asked Bangladesh to verify the nationality of more than 2,860 suspected Bangladeshis illegally living in the country.
{{/usCountry}}The external affairs ministry said last month that India has asked Bangladesh to verify the nationality of more than 2,860 suspected Bangladeshis illegally living in the country.
{{/usCountry}}The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments in the border states of Tripura, West Bengal and Assam have listed the tackling of undocumented migration as a priority and have focused on the so-called “push back” of illegal infiltrators to Bangladesh.
However, the BGB warned in a statement that any effort to violate international border management norms and bilateral understandings will be “strictly resisted”. It added, “No individual or group will be allowed to enter Bangladesh illegally through the border.”