By Aafaque Hussain
SHILLONG: The Border Security Force (BSF) has launched a special drive to thwart attempts by Bangladeshi illegal immigrants to enter Meghalaya.
It is a known fact that there is rampant movement of Bangladeshis into Meghalaya especially in the coal-rich regions of the State where there are plentiful employment opportunities.
So far this year, the BSF has apprehended 199 Bangladeshi nationals from the Meghalaya border.
An official from the BSF informed The Shillong Times that the arrests were made during the special drive against illegal immigrants coming from across the border.
The maximum number of illegal immigrants were apprehended in October with as many as 73 arrests, while the least number of arrests were made in June with only 6 arrests.
When asked about the reason for the large scale immigration of Bangladeshis into the Indian territory, the BSF official said that the trend of Bangladeshis crossing over to India has been going on since ages as in the past too many Bangladeshis have infiltrated into Indian territory when BSF was not manning the international borders of Meghalaya.
“There should be an intelligence coordination to stop the illegal immigrants from crossing over to the Indian side,” the official said.
Though border fencing is expected to play a major role in curbing the entry of illegal immigrants in Meghalaya, yet the same has hit a road block with the Co-ordination Committee on International Border (CCIB) comprising the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU), Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People (FKJGP) and the Hynniewtrep National Youth Front (HNYF) opposing construction of the border fence along the Zero Line in the border on the grounds that arable land belonging to villagers in Meghalaya would be lost when the fence comes up.
Out of the 443-kilometer stretch of the Indo-Bangla border in Meghalaya, 230 kilometers have been fenced while work is going on in 110 kilometer while in the remaining portion the fencing work has not been taken up yet due to the opposition.
“Border fencing is a strong force multiplier for curbing down any trans-border crime,” the BSF official said.
It is learnt that the even the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) is taking all measures to ensure that Bangladeshi nationals do not cross the international border to go to India and they have also initiated programmes to create awareness among their citizens.
It may be mentioned that the BSF during its recently held coordination meeting with the BGB in Sylhet, Bangladesh discussed the issue of entry of illegal immigrants.
