India plans migrant crackdown

bbc ^ | Jan 7 | Ayanjit Sen

[swarthyguy]

India says it is planning to deport an estimated 20 million Bangladeshi illegal immigrants. The Home Ministry in Delhi said the illegal immigrant issue had to be tackled with ''utmost urgency''.

In a statement issued after a day-long security meeting of top Indian officials, the ministry said: ''The presence of a large number of illegal foreign immigrants, particularly from Bangladesh, poses a serious threat to internal security.''

However, the Bangladeshi authorities have dismissed the Indian statement as "absurd. "

A Foreign Office spokesman in Dhaka said no Bangladeshis were in India illegally.

More than half the estimated Bangladeshi immigrants in India live in the north-eastern state of Assam or the eastern state of West Bengal.

Presence denied

Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury told the BBC his office would only give a reaction after an official confirmation of the ministry's statement.

However, Bangladeshi governments have consistently denied the presence of any illegal immigrants in India.

An Indian home ministry spokesman said the deportation drive was expected to begin between April and June.

A few Indian states, including Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, have already launched a drive to identify immigrants from Bangladesh.

A few months ago, the Rajasthan government said Bangladeshi nationals who were staying illegally would be deported.

The move followed a clash between Bangladeshi immigrants and police in the state capital, Jaipur.

India and Bangladesh share a 4,143-kilometre border.

India says it has already begun constructing barbed-wire fences to stop smuggling and infiltration, mostly by Muslim settlers, along the border in Assam, West Bengal and Tripura.

[swarthyguy]

Don't how effective they will be.

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[AM2000]

How the hell are they ever going to prove that someoens an illegal? If they happen to speak Bengali and pray 5 times a day? There are plenty of Indians who do that. And not like they can ask for documents either, there are enough Indians who are undocumented from the day they're born to the day they die.

[Bikers4Bush]

If they can do it for 20 million we can do it for 8-12 million.

Hell, if they're successful I say we farm out a contract to them to handle our problem for us.

[Charles Martel]

A Foreign Office spokesman in Dhaka said no Bangladeshis were in India illegally.

Baghdad Bob resurfaces?

[swarthyguy]

Same points I had. I think the plan is to use informers and people who live in the areas where the Banglas have moved.

Even Indian Bangla Muslims would assist in id'ing the illegals, i think.

And if a fence is built, then crossovers are tougher.

[swarthyguy]

OUtsourcing, eh? Indian guards on the Rio. Well, you could hire a division of Indian troops for the price of a US platoon, maybe.

[AM2000]

Dhaka has always consistently said that. They can say it without being laughed at too, because of the nature of the Indo-Bangladesh border. Large, non-rural, sections of it are unmarked and marked with small towns where both Indian and Bangladeshi currencies are accepted. It's an unspoken agreement that neither country will ever make a stink over these towns and villages (which existed before the border did) and whenever India whines about illegal immigrants, Bangladesh claims theyre just border residents and all Indian :-)

India has elections coming up, and this is all just posturing. India will never be able to deport 20 million B'deshis simply because they can't identify who's illegal. Your average rural poor Indian man is born and dies without any real documents. So how do you ever define whos illegal and whos not?

[swarthyguy]

>>So how do you ever define whos illegal and whos not?

Depends on who pays the baksheesh.

[janetgreen]

They can all come here, Bush will add them to his "guest worker" program.

[AM2000]

Same points I had. I think the plan is to use informers and people who live in the areas where the Banglas have moved.

You're a Mumbaiya, you know how it is man.. you start listening to informers and all you'll get are people taking out vendettas and crazy shit like that. You'll be destroying lives based on bad information. A very bad idea.

Even Indian Bangla Muslims would assist in id'ing the illegals, i think.

Not a chance. Except as a personal vendetta.

And if a fence is built, then crossovers are tougher.

You can't have a fence in the most porous parts of the border in WB - the enclaves, and places where the border is unmarked and passes smack throguh the middle of towns and villages.

[AM2000]

I hope you dont mean taxes. India's got a huge underground economy, with plenty of native born Indians working it. Hell, the entire underground economy of WB is run by Bihari labor. No tax records, nada.

[swarthyguy]

NO, but bribes to border guards, army personnel.

[Bikers4Bush]

I figure why not? Since we aren't willing to do it we might as well pay someone who is willing to get the job done.

[beachlover]

you are a jerk

[AreaMan]

What? Stop illegal immigrants?

Don't the Indians know that the 20 million Bangladeshi are an important part of the Indian economy?
After all, who will pick the fruit or tea? Certainly not the lazy middle class native Indians.

[AM2000]

You want to bribe border guards so they can tell the government whos legal and whos not?

That won't stand up in court. And... more importantly, it won't work. The only way India can take care of the problem going forward is to redraw the border. But the Bangladeshis that are in the country, are there to stay. The only way you can get rid of them is if India decides to get rid of the Bengali people altogether.

[swarthyguy]

NO, I mean that bribes will be offered to people to look the other way and classify the bribers as Indians.

[Bikers4Bush]

I'm a jerk because what I propose makes perfect sense?

Great logic you've got going there.