For want of a better life: Bangaldeshi immigrants recount why they cross border

Safdar Ghazi name changed is 32 years old He stays with his family in the Kalia district and earns a living on a day to day basis taking whatever work he can But even today he wishes he were in India where opportunities were better and earnings were higherldquoLiving in Bangladesh wasnrsquot helping me take care of my wife and two childrenrdquo he tells midday speaking from Bangladesh ldquoIn India I could have earned at least Rs 400 to Rs 500 at construction sites which was a huge step up from my life hererdquoThe fact that he regards the measly amount as a ldquostepuprdquo is an indicator of just how desperate things are and gives us an insight into the evergrowing issue of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants coming to IndiaAgents on both sides of the IndoBangladesh border facilitate the entry of Bangaldeshi nationals looking for betterpaying job opportunities into IndiaIn September this year Salman Fazlur Rehman advisor to Bangladesh Prime Minister Shekh Hasina was quoted as saying that illegal Bangladeshi immigrants were lsquoeconomic refugeesrsquo who would return to their country once the economic situation improves back home Safdarrsquos words are testimony to just how bad it is in his countryIt wasnrsquot easy to get hold of Safdar We had to go through a middleman and establishing contact took time Even after that details flowed reluctantly from the now deported immigrant who tried crossing into India in vain around three years agoldquoI managed to make contact with some agents who asked for Rs 12000 in exchange for helping me get into India They told me they could help me get jobs in metro cities and asked for an additional Rs 10000 if I wanted accommodation sorted out I paid them the entire amount but while crossing into India through Hakimpur I was detained by security forces on the Indian side I spent a few days in their custody before being deported back homerdquo says SafdarIn rural areas far from urban centers agents guide individuals to illegally cross the border on both sides navigating through farms on motorbikes and bicyclesHe is most unwilling to explain exactly how people like him cross into India This is something we observe throughout our research all of them simply refer to it as ldquocrossing the borderrdquo no one wants to go into specifics unless prodded repeatedlyldquoIt all depends on the agentsrdquo Safdar finally says ldquoSometimes one batch crosses over along with people who are legally crossing the border Nobody knows how but these illegal immigrants simply breeze through without being stopped or subjected to proper checking Some say because the agents make coded markings on the documents of the immigrants signals for security officials that they are supposed to turn a blind eye towards this lotrdquo Is it that easy we wonder Itrsquos even easier sometimes apparentlyldquoSome of us come through hiding in trade trucks that shuttle between India and Bangladeshrdquo says Shumail Kazi name changed another native of Kalia district ldquoYet others cross through gaps in the fences in the dead of the nightrdquo Shumail lived in Mumbai for a year before being arrested and deported The 40yearold says he paid Rs 15000 to the agents in Bangladesh who helped him cross through Benapole in BangladeshOnce across the border agents ensure the safety of their clients by dropping them off at secure locations with the assistance of autorickshaws or private vehiclesldquoFrom there I made my way to Howrah in West Bengal where an Indian agent was waiting for me He handed me a ticket to Mumbai and warned me that I should only travel in the general compartment which is more crowded than others and hence easier to stay hidden in I was wracked with anxiety throughout the journey but got into Mumbai safe and soundrdquo he recallsOne would believe that it would be especially difficult for an illegal immigrant to get life started in a strange city Again wersquore wrongldquoI was already provided with a bogus Indian Voter ID card before I even crossed into India Once in Mumbai I was also provided Aadhar and PAN cards All I had to do was pay R10000 and two passport size photographs of me From there on everything including accommodation and jobsrdquo says Shumail Ashraful Sheikh name changed who crossed over in 2018 and stayed in Mumbai for two years before being arrested and deported confirms thisldquoMe and the others I crossed with stayed in a small house after we crossed through Hakimpur till our bogus Indian documents were prepared and handed over to us Then I came to Mumbai and made my way to Wadala where I earned at least Rs 500 every day as a construction workerrdquo he says Ashraful has one more disturbing titbit for us to chew onForged ID documents like Voter IDs are provided to the illegal immigrants which they use to book tickets to metro cities like Mumbai and Delhi Illustration by Uday MohiteldquoThe agents gave a very welloiled network I know of people who shuttle between India and Bangladesh regularly and have never been caught A lot of them hide at farms near the borders because farmers cross the borders by mistake frequently If caught they can simply claim they lost their way If not they can sail throughrdquo he saysSceptical we set about verifying this information hoping it will be poohpoohed at some level It wasnrsquotmidday spoke to several police officers in Mumbai including those with the Borivali police station which recently arrested 17 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants from its jurisdiction in October ldquoOur investigations reveal that there are agents in the 24 Parganas district who are waiting for the illegal immigrants with forged Voter ID cards already prepared in their names These are used as ID cards to book train tickets from West Bengal to other cities in India After this point the immigrants cut off all contact with the agents and the link is severedrdquo says an officerAnother confirms that the agents have a wide network of inroads into the country including farmlands and secluded unsecured patches in the border fences According to official data obtained from the Mumbai Police a total of 449 Bangladeshi nationals have been arrested in the last two years after they were found to be staying here illegally This year alone the number stands at 310 immigrantsldquoWe are actively monitoring illegal immigrants and conducting special drives to apprehend them so that they can be charged under the Foreigners Act Our teams are closely monitoring specific areas in the city where the most number of illegal immigrants were found earlier Several agents and shopkeepers involved in the creation of forged documents have also been apprehendedrdquo says Joint Commissioner of Police Law and Order Satyanarayan Choudhary Mumbai PoliceThe issue of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants however extends far beyond just the violation of the Foreigners Act The Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad has also been keeping tabs on them because several of them arrested in the past have been found to be linked to Ansarullah Bangla Team ABT a radical Islamic organisation based in Bangladesh which has been banned and declared a terrorist organisation in IndiaDespite the unceasing efforts of Indian authorities the unauthorised entry of Bangladeshi nationals also appears to be relentless attributed in part to the extensive IndoBangla border spanning 40967 km with states like West Bengal Mizoram Assam Meghalaya and Tripura as per government recordsldquoCertain areas along the border lack fencing and remain fully open Illegal crossings predominantly occur in these regions where individuals engaged in farming or cattlerearing inadvertently cross the border without detection by authorities sometimes facilitated by briberyrdquo an informant assisting the Mumbai police in apprehending illegal Bangladeshi immigrants tells middayldquoNumerous places allow easy border crossing but some major points that I know of include Hakimpur Hili Balti Ghojadang India Check post Keraniganj Upazila and Benapole which serve as entry points for Bangladeshi nationals into Indiardquo the informant addsBalakrishna Kamath a retired Intelligence Bureau officer and author of books such as The Velvet Glovesrdquo and The Ace of Shadows says that when Bangladesh was liberated from Pakistan and was formed as an independent state its people severe economic hardships and persecution Due to the open border many chose to return to India as there was minimal fencing at the timeldquoThey chose India because of the homely feeling sharing the same culture and finding familiarity in West Bengal due to the language Additionally the presence of a large Muslim population in India added to the sense of homeliness as well as a setting to live unnoticed Their migration was solely due to the adverse conditions in Bangladesh devoid of any political motivationsrdquo Kamath explainsIndeed the reason why the demand for a separate state of Bangladesh arose in East Pakistan was because the then Pakistan government announced its intention to declare Urdu as the countryrsquos national language in 1970 creating an instant feeling of alienation among East Pakistanrsquos predominantly Banglaspeaking populationKamath who has extensively studied the topic delves into the political dimension of immigration citing the Assam Movement from 1979 to 1985 Also known as the AntiForeigners Agitation the movement aimed at deporting illegal immigrants alleging exclusion of numerous names from the electoral roll Led by the All Assam Students Union the movement witnessed ethnic violence in Assam and neighbouring states until its resolution in 1985Kamath points out that the political movement in Assam had wider ramifications for the Bangladeshi migrants in most border states including West Bengal This prompted Bangladeshi immigrants to shift to other parts of the country such as Bihar Kerala and Maharashtra as they felt going to Assam and other border state would be dangerousNotably these migrants began adopting the local languages in their new regions and offering to work at lower remuneration which was nearly half of the prevailing rate for the Indian labourers Taking advantage of the huge difference in labour charges the local contractors started entertaining more Bangladeshi migrants Consequently the mass migration initially confined to the border states expanded to other regions affecting the local social and political dynamicsHe adds that under Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina economic growth in Bangladesh came close to Indiarsquos growth rate last year This has helped generate employment opportunities and consequently there is a decreasing trend in migration legal or illegal However it still persists driven by attractive employment opportunities in India at lower wages compared to Indian labourersldquoWhen the culture and the language are similar and economic factors are strong it becomes very difficult even if you put fences and this is happening everywhere even in Europe The solution I would say would be for Bangladesh to focus on its own progress India should work with them to stabilise the situation because any kind of anarchy and breakdown over there is going to affect India the mostrdquo says KamathHe adds ldquoWe may need to take mutually beneficial measures to facilitate and boost the trade between Bangladesh and Nepal trade such as constructing rail corridors and electricity transmission lines Overall contributing to Bangladeshrsquos stability is important to address the issue of illegal migration Even if we put up fences or walls they will still find ways to enter India illegally There is always a reason for migration be it political social or economicrdquo