BSF pushes back 4 Rohingya from Tripura

17 illegal migrants caught and handed over to police; 75 vulnerable locations have been identified on a 21-km stretch in the State

Rohingya refugees queue for aid at Cox Bazar in Bangladesh on Tuesday.

The Border Security Force (BSF) recently pushed back four Rohingya Muslims who were trying to cross over an unfenced stretch on the Bangladesh border in Tripura.

This is the first instance of Rohingya being pushed back since the Home Ministry circular on August 19 to identify and deport them.

An official said the BSF had identified 75 vulnerable locations on a 21-km stretch in Tripura.

NHRC opposition

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has opposed the government’s move to deport and push back the Rohingya and sought a report from the Ministry.

The Hindu reported on September 15 that Assam and Manipur had asked the State police and the BSF to push back any Rohingya attempting to enter the country.

“This year, 17 Rohingya Muslims were caught along the Tripura and Assam border. They were handed over to the police and action is being taken against them,” said a BSF official on condition of anonymity.

Asked how they identified the Rohingya, he said, “The Bengali dialect they speak is different from that spoken in India and Bangladesh. It is not difficult to identify them. They could have travelled from the Cox Bazar area [a large number of Rohingya has taken shelter here] in Bangladesh all the way to the Tripura border.”

 

Centre’s affidavit

In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on September 18, the Union government said Rohingya were a threat to national security and “some of the unauthorised Rohingya immigrants had linkages with Pakistan-based terror organisations.” There was an organised influx of “illegal” immigrants from Mynamar through agents and touts facilitating illegal immigration of Rohingya into India via Benapole-Haridaspur (West Bengal), Hili (West Bengal), Sonamora (Tripura), Kolkata and Guwahat, it said.

The first four points are authorised immigration checkpoints and manned by Customs, immigration and BSF officials.

Asked to clarify if Rohingya were using authorised immigration checkpoints to enter India, a Home Ministry spokesperson said “illegal immigrants avoided the legal routes”.

“Such illegal immigration takes place surreptitiously through different possible entry points,” the spokesperson said.

In June, the Home Ministry constituted yet another committee to examine various methods to curb the misuse of free movement along the Myanmar border, a friendly country, with which it shares unfenced borders and unhindered movement of people across the border.

The committee, headed by Rina Mitra, Special Secretary, Internal Security, visited the border areas last week.