Hasina Seeks Written Assurance On Illegal Immigrants’ Deportation

Bangladesh had made a similar demand in October, after the NRC exercise was carried out in Assam.

Image of Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina and PM Modi used for representational purposes.

(Photo: PTI/Altered by The Quint)

Bangladesh has sought a written assurance from India that it will not send back illegal immigrants to Bangladesh after the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), The Print reported.

Bangladesh had made a similar demand in October, after the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise was carried out in Assam, diplomatic sources told The Print.

India had given a verbal assurance to Bangladesh that those rendered foreigners under the NRC exercise will not be sent back. A written assurance was reportedly refused, stating the exercise was carried out as per the Supreme Court directions.

The passage of the CAA and the NRC has triggered massive protests across the country. However, the government has said there has been no formal discussion on a nationwide NRC.

Bangladesh has now sought a written assurance from the Indian government that Muslim immigrants deemed illegal will not be sent back, since there are no compulsions of the court.

‘NRC is Completely an Internal Affair’

The issue was also discussed on Sunday, 29 December, when the Chief of Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) Major General Shafeenul Islam visited India with a delegation.

The creation of the NRC is completely an “internal affair” of India and the cooperation between the border guarding forces of the two countries is very good, the visiting chief of Border Guards Bangladesh said, PTI reported.

Islam also said that the BGB will continue to do its work of preventing illegal border crossings as per its mandate.

A BGB delegation, led by Islam, was on a bilateral visit to India to hold DG-level border talks with its counterparts, the Border Security Force (BSF).

Meanwhile, Hasina is facing flak from the Opposition over her inability to get an assurance from India despite having a good rapport with PM Modi, The Print reported.

The criticism comes after over 60 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants from Bengaluru were taken to Kolkata to be deported to Dhaka in November.

Earlier in December, a senior Bangladeshi diplomat was attacked during anti-CAA protest in Guwahati.

A visit by Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Minister AK Abdul Momen and Home Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Khan was also cancelled amid the stir.

(With inputs from The Print & PTI.)