In 10 minutes if there’s gap: Fleeing Bangladeshis reveal how they crossed into India

India Today:

Fearing being detained at holding centres amid a crackdown, hundreds of Bangladeshi illegal immigrants are now flocking to border points and transit terminals in West Bengal. While unsure about crossing over, Bangladeshi aliens who have lived in India for decades, and in some cases their entire lives, are now speaking about how they entered India illegally and procured documents.

Some recalled crossing rivers to enter India, while others spoke about how dalal, or middlemen, used the cover of darkness to coordinate crossings. A person revealed that they could slip into India in 10 minutes if the middlemen found a “patrolling gap”. Others claimed that people of a network, which included workers of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal, helped arrange identity documents. They said they received cash benefits through various schemes and even voted in India.

The accounts come amid a crackdown on illegal immigrants in West Bengal. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has declared that illegal Bangladeshi migrants should neither be sheltered nor produced in court, but instead be directly handed over to the BSF at the border. The BJP government has also said that welfare benefits for illegal migrants in Bengal are being identified and cut off.

Border districts in West Bengal have seen increased checking and monitoring in recent weeks. Amid this, reports have also emerged of people voluntarily seeking to return to Bangladesh to avoid detention centres or deportation proceedings.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday, referring to the reports of hundreds of people heading to Bangladesh, said “since the infiltrators were returning on their own”, the government would not take any legal action against them. He “congratulated Suvendu Adhikari for handing over 600 hectares of land to the BSF”, including some along the Chicken Neck.