Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Director General Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui has said India is systematically pushing hundreds of people, including Rohingya, into various borders of Bangladesh claiming they are Bangladeshi citizens, which is disgraceful and a violation of human rights.
India is targeting uninhabited border areas for these push-ins, Ashrafuzzaman said on Monday while responding to questions from reporters after a meeting of the advisory committee on law and order at the Ministry of Home Affairs.
For instance, he said, several areas of Panchari in Khagrachhari and the char areas of Rowmari in Kurigram have already been used. "These are places that take time to reach for patrolling units,” the BGB chief said.
“So far, 202 individuals have been taken into BGB custody, including 39 Rohingyas.”
The BGB director general added that due to tight surveillance in the land border areas, the Indian side could not operate on the ground and instead dropped another 78 people via Indian vessels at a remote char named Manderbaria in the Sundarbans.
“The Coast Guard later rescued them. The process is ongoing to send them back to their respective areas. We have lodged a protest through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” he added.
The BGB chief said India conducted the push-ins on the nights of Wednesday and Thursday. “The BGB has found 202 people in such instances. The BSF is carrying out push-ins from various corners of the border, particularly in areas where there are no inhabitants. They know that physical surveillance is not possible on every inch of the border.”
“Some of these 202 people were verified through the Special Branch of police as Bangladeshi nationals. These individuals had gone to India for work at different times over the past two to three years, even as far back as 20 to 25 years ago. Many had children there, and some of these children even received Aadhaar cards or other Indian documents.”
“But Indian police and the BSF confiscated those and forcibly pushed them into Bangladesh. The process to send those verified as Bangladeshi citizens back to their respective localities is underway. Among them, 39 have been identified as Rohingyas. Some of these Rohingyas had previously been registered in camps here but had fled to India at some point. They have been sent back to the Rohingya camps through the RRC and UNHCR.”
The BGB chief added that an alarming issue has emerged: some of the Rohingyas apprehended had been registered as refugees under the UNHCR in India.
“They had ID cards issued there. We are informing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UNHCR that this is a blatant human rights violation. Refugees should remain in the country where they were registered.”
“The BSF, as usual, is denying the entire matter. They claim to have no knowledge of the events and are saying the Rohingyas had entered India voluntarily and are now returning on their own. We do not accept this,” he added.
“We have lodged a protest note through flag meetings and have also contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, urging them to raise the issue with the Indian foreign ministry. If the individuals are indeed Bangladeshi, we are willing to take them back, but through a regular process. It cannot happen through clandestine means,” he said.
He added that the BGB has received intelligence that around 200–300 more refugees are currently being held across the border near the Khagrachhari frontier. The BSF is waiting for an opportunity to push them in, he claimed.
“But due to heightened BGB patrols and alertness, their efforts have been thwarted over the past two days. Still, they remain in the border areas,” he said.
