Bangladeshi children longing for reunion with parents

Three children from Bangladesh — A. Munna (10), Md. Ikramol (16) and Md. Jabir Hussain (16) — illegal immigrants who were spotted in West Godavari district, are craving for a reunion with their parents. They are languishing in the Government Home for Boys at Sanivarapupeta on the city outskirts for over six months.

Munna, son of Usman Kapada, is a runaway boy who crossed the borders from his native village in Bangladesh and reached the city in a truck. He was handed over to the volunteers of Childline, a non- governmental organisation (NGO), by the locals at Ashok Nagar while begging. He was lodged in the home after he was presented before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC).

Md. Jabir Hussain, son of Ismail Hussain and Md. Ikramal, son of Imam, hailing from Shikidi and Katura villages of Jessore district in the Southwestern tip of Bangladesh, found their way into the country to engage themselves as child workers in Bhimavaram area in the district.

Abject poverty pushed Jabir, a Class IV dropout and Ikramal, a Class V dropout, into odd jobs during their early childhood. A broker of Bangladeshi origin allegedly acted as a conduit for prawn processing units in Bhimavaram area for supply of these child workers for low wages. The children ought to pay Rs 4,000 each to the broker for fetching employment for them as per the agreement. They worked for a monthly wage of Rs 9,000 in Bhimavaram-based aqua units and left the workplace abruptly.

Police apprehended them while moving around in Bhimavaram area. Ikramal could establish contact with his father over phone but the latter expressed his inability to come to India to receive his son due to financial problems. According to Jubir, crossing the borders from Bangladesh is quite easy. “I came to the borders on a two-wheeler and crossed the borders on foot with ease and finally landed myself in the Howrah railway station by bus and car,” he said. Home for boys Superintendent T. Madhusudan Rao said efforts were on to establish contact with the Indian embassy and the External Affairs Ministry for their repatriation.

CWC chairman T.N. Snehan however expressed anguish over the alleged laxity on the part of the Directorate of Juvenile Welfare and Correctional Services in dealing with the issue. “They should have been sent back by March. Repeated requests went in vain as the Directorate is caught in the State bifurcation blues,” he regretted.