In a major development involving Bangladesh, the Indian government on Tuesday directed the country’s states to take swift action to identify illegal migrants from its neighbour.
The federal government’s minister of state for home, Nityanand Rai, said at least 2,399 Bangladeshi nationals were intercepted and found in the last five years, who were using fraudulently obtained Indian documents, reported the PTI.
"The central government had issued instructions to state governments and union territories for taking appropriate prompt steps for identification of illegal migrants," he told the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India's parliament.
The states and union territories, Nityanand added, were also tasked with restricting illegal migrants to specific areas in accordance with laws, recording their biographic and biometric information, cancelling forged Indian documents, and initiating legal proceedings, including deportation proceedings.
The states have also been advised to share information of those who have wrongfully obtained forged Aadhar cards for appropriate legal action, the minister maintained.
Delhi has asked the local governments to cancel any identification documents, such as voter card, driving license, ration card etc, the illegal migrants have obtained fraudulently, he concluded.
In April, India’s Border Security Force said that nearly 14,000 Bangladeshi nationals were sent back and averted to enter the Indo-Bangladesh border in India since 2019.
