More than 250 Pakistanis, Bangladeshis deported in last 3 years: Rijiju

Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday that nearly  250 Pakistanis and 1,750 Bangladeshis were deported during last three years. Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju also said some Bangladeshi migrants "may be prone to Islamic fundamentalism and become easy prey for militancy, communal conflicts and anti-India elements like Pakistani agency ISI".

During the last three years, 2014, 2015 and 2016, more than 250 Pakistani nationals and 1,750 Bangladeshi nationals were deported to their respective countries after due process of identification, he said in a written reply.

The Minister said illegal immigrants enter the country without valid travel documents in clandestine and surreptitious manner. "There is no accurate data with regard to number of Bangladeshi citizens illegally residing in the country," he said.

Rijiju said many illegal Bangladeshi immigrants are found to be involved in cases relating to theft/burglary, smuggling, human trafficking and drugs trafficking etc. The government has been strengthening Indo-Bangladesh Border to prevent infiltration of illegal immigrants fromBangladesh.

Besides, bilateral mechanisms such as Joint Working Group on Security, Director General-level talks between Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Home Secretary-level talks and Home Minister-level consultations are in place between the two countries to address problems arising from illegal border crossing, trans-border crimes like smuggling of drugs, Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN), human trafficking, he said.

Further, deportation of illegal Bangladeshi migrants is also undertaken by the state governments who have been delegated the power of detection and deportation of the illegal foreign migrants under the Foreigners Act, he said.