Appropriate legal action being taken against illegal foreigners in India, says BSF DG

Dhaka [Bangladesh], August 28 : Appropriate legal action is being taken against illegal foreigners staying in India, including Bangladeshi nationals, BSF Director General Daljit Singh Chowdhury said in Dhaka on Thursday.

Replying to questions at a joint press conference after talks with Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Chowdhury said, "They are being dealt with as per the law of the land. All BD nationals who were found illegally entering India without any criminal intent are handed over to the BGB respectfully. During this period, we have handed over around 550 Bangladeshi nationals to the BGB. In cases when BGB could not verify the credentials, they were handed over to Indian agencies for deportation through an established mechanism."

He added that more than 2,400 cases of verification of Bangladeshi nationals are pending with the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi. "Some of them have been pending for more than 5 years. We have also requested BGB to take up the case with the relevant authorities to expedite the confirmation, so that they can be reunited with their families. If there are any instances of border violation by Indian nationals or Bangladeshi nationals, a well-established mechanism exists between both countries for deporting or handing over the nationals to each other," he added.

On deportations, the BSF DG said, "As I explained before, there is a well-established mechanism that exists between both countries for deporting or handing over nationals to each other. If we are contacted and it is found that the deported persons are Indian nationals, we will immediately accept them".

Responding to questions on border firing, Chowdhury said the BSF has followed a non-lethal strategy for 15 years but sometimes personnel face violent attacks from cross-border criminals.

A"It is a matter of fact that in such attacks, 35 BSF persons were grievously injured in the first six months of this year alone. Repeated and blatant violation of the international boundary, coupled with attacks on the BSF troops on duty inside the Indian territory, is a matter of extreme concern for us and not at all acceptable. BSF personnel fire only and only at a last resort in the face of an imminent threat to their life in self-defence, irrespective of the nationality. Such unfortunate occurrences can be avoided if a proper fence is put in place on the border from both sides. This will stall translations in each other's areas and minimise the mishaps on the border. Border fencing does not have any defence potential and is a physical deterrence to curb transboundary crimes, which is beneficial to both nations. The Government of India, to stop such kinds of mishaps happening on the border, has spent thousand of crores of rupees in inducting fencing, flood-lighting, and deploying electronic surveillance systems to counter such kind of transborder offenses, which lead to unfortunate occurrences", he said, adding that India has invested heavily in fencing, floodlighting and electronic surveillance to prevent such incidents.

Meanwhile, BGB Director General Maj Gen Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui raised concerns over border killings.

"We have raised the concerns of border killing. This was one of the most emphasised priority agenda points. We had a long discussion between both sides. As you have just heard from Excellency DG BSF that the BSF fires only for self-defence. But we have challenged that. However, at the end, both sides agreed to try their best so that no crossings take place, whether deliberately or inadvertently, and we try so that no loss of life takes place. Now we wait, and then we will try to implement those on the ground. And we have requested the same from BSF authorities as well", he said

The remarks came after the conclusion of the 56th DG-level Border Coordination Conference held in Dhaka from August 25 to 28.

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