The eviction has left approximately 400 daily wage workers, primarily involved in waste segregation and originally from West Bengal, struggling to address their grievances. As per the report, a formal complaint with the State police chief have been filed by the victims. The said complaint provides that the Bannerghatta police arrived with earthmovers, destroyed six homes, and disconnected the power supply, all under the pretence of removing illegal immigrants. Furthermore, abusing their power, the police allegedly also threatened the residents with severe consequences if they resisted.

As per the report, a resident claimed they had valid documents proving their citizenship and residency of West Bengal and had attempted to communicate this to the police, however the same was to no avail. The resident further provided that they had paid rent for the land and constructed their homes, which have now been demolished. R. Kaleemulla, an activist with Swaraj Abhiyan, stated that the demolition was unlawful and contravened several High Court and Supreme Court rulings.

The complaint filed with the State police chief also highlighted that the demolition followed a report from a Kannada news channel falsely accusing the residents of being illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The residents have informed the West Bengal government of the situation and are demanding accountability for the police officials involved in the eviction and for the news channel that broadcasted the misleading report.

Speaking to SabrangIndia, R. Kaleemulla stated that the condition of the Bengali migrants living in Bengaluru is very grave, they spend each day under fear of being falsely deemed as “illegal Bangladeshis” and facing ill-treatment at the hands of the state police. R. Kaleemulla provided that the victims had shown their valid documents but it made no difference to the police. It was further alleged by R. Kaleemulla that the police were acting in fear of the Kannada news channel, namely Republic TV, while taking action against the migrants. R. Kaleemulla also highlighted that a news reporter Naveen Shetty and a cameraman from Republic TV Kannada channel had accompanied the police officials, including the Inspector of Bannergatta Police Station one Mr. Krishnamurti bulldozers, and JCBs, while the houses were being demolished at the S. Bingipura colony. The channel had even taken the live coverage of the demolition.

As claimed by R. Kaleemulla, the reporter was heard stating that the police were taking action against “illegal Bengladeshi” migrants. Referring to the documentations being presented by the migrants, the reporter had allegedly claimed that “these documents were falsely claimed by these Bangladeshi illegals by entering the state of West Bengal.”

The video of the coverage by Republic TV Kannada can be viewed here:

As per R. Kaleemulla, the news report in question by Republic TV amounts to hate speech and incitement of violence and discrimination against these families. He told SabrangIndia that the action of the media personnel not only violates the fundamental rights of these individuals but also undermines the social fabric of our diverse and pluralistic society.

1. Kaleemulla also shared pictures of the documents that were held by the migrants there.

On August 1, 2024, a memorandum was also submitted by activists with Swaraj Abhiyan and members of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties to the Director General of Police of the state of Karnataka, highlighting the details of the incident and the unjust manner in which the migrants were targeted by the police.

In the memorandum submitted, it has been stated “We are writing to bring to your urgent attention a grave violation of the rights and liberties of about 70 families, comprising approximately 400 persons, who hail from Village Uttar Kodalia, PS Basirhat, West Bengal, and currently reside in a colony at S. Bingipura, coming under within the jurisdiction of Bannerghatta Police Station, Bangalore, Karnataka. We would like to bring to your attention that these 400 residents are residing on private property as tenants. Furthermore, all these individuals, primarily engaged in manual labor and scavenging, and considering their socio-economic backwardness are facing severe persecution and injustice at the hands of police and media personnel.”

Details of the destruction caused by were also provided, by stating “Furthermore, the JCB bulldozer was used to destroy 6 homes and community buildings, and further, the electricity supply to the houses in the colony was disconnected, at the instance of the Banerghatta Police. This act of demolition by the police is illegal and inhuman. It is outside of the jurisdiction of the police to initiate and carry out such demolition of houses on private property. This demolition has affected the children education, the health of the residents and caused severe stress to all the residents. These families are genuine Indian citizens from West Bengal who have migrated to Bangalore for livelihood opportunities. Each one of them has an Aadhar Card, Voter ID and Pan Card as proof of their citizenship. They are being unjustly targeted and subjected to threats of persecution, imprisonment, displacement, and deportation solely due to their religious beliefs and language barrier.”

As per the memorandum, the said demolition and eviction led to violations of Constitutional provisions of Article 14, 19, 21 and 25. In addition to this, the police also cause violation of Rule of Law and Right to Livelihood.

The memorandum also highlighted an order of the Karnataka High Court, in the case of Peoples Union for Civil Liberties Karnataka v. State Of Karnataka (WP 1285/20200), wherein a similar circumstance had been argued before the Court.  A demolition of shelters at the instance of the Police officials of Marathahalli Police officials had taken place, which were similarly based on the unsubstantiated apprehension of residents being Bangladeshi and baseless news reports. During the case, the Court had come down strictly on the Police officials and through its order dated February 10, 2020 had held that the Police action was in gross violation of Article 21 of the constitution. The court had then consequently directed State government to implement a comprehensive rehabilitation scheme featuring temporary as well as permanent measures and along with that pay compensation the evicted residents.

The memorandum had then stated that the present act of the state police is not only violative of the fundamental rights of the victims, but also the order of the Court.

The complete memorandum can be viewed here:

To condemn the incident, a short report had also been written by Jai kisan Andholan Advocate Avik Saha on July 31. He had addressed the said report to Ms. Dola Sen, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, West Bengal. The same is as follows:

“Respected MP Sen,

Attack on Life, Liberty & Fundamental Rights of Indian Citizens from West Bengal at P. Bengipur Colony, Police Station Bannerghatta, Bangalore, Karnataka – Request for Highlighting Issue in Parliament and Action

About 70 families comprising of about 400 persons hailing from Village Uttar Kodalia, PS Basirhat, West Bengal reside at a colony at P. Bengipur, Police Station Bannerghatta, Bangalore, Karnataka. These persons are mostly manual workers and scavengers.

Yesterday, 30th July, 2024, some right wing news channels along with police force, bulldozers and JCBs came to the colony and started threatening the families saying that they are Bangladeshis and their identities as Indian citizens are fake. Some houses and community buildings were destroyed with bulldozers and electricity supply to the houses was disconnected. Videos and photos of the incident and interviews with the resident of the colony are attached to this message.

The fact is that all these persons are Indian citizens hailing from West Bengal and are living in Bangalore for their livelihood and are being constantly threatened with persecution, imprisonment, displacement, and pushback only because of their religious beliefs. The contact person for this group is Rehana Khatun who is being assisted by a local person, R Kaleemullah.

We request you to kindly inform the government of West Bengal about the torture and suffering of these families from West Bengal so that appropriate action can be taken at government-to-government level with the Govt. of Karnataka.

We further request you to kindly raise this issue in Parliament to highlight how Indian citizens are being tortured and persecuted by the right wing forces only because they belong to the minority community.

We will be grateful for your kind intervention and help in this matter.”

As provided by R. Kaleemulla, the West Bengal government is constantly in touch with the Karnataka government and is taking all the necessary steps to protect the migrants being evicted. At the time of the filing of this story, the eviction drive had been paused.

It is essential to note that this is not the first time that migrants in Bengaluru have been deemed to be “Illegal Bangladeshi Migrants”. A similar situation had arisen in Bengaluru in June of 2022 when a police search unit burst into a waste segregation centre overflowing with plastic waste, alongside which nearly 40 people lived in corrugated iron sheds with no sewers or electricity, and poor Bengali migrants were targeted by the state police. As per a report of Article 14, Bengali Muslim migrants living in ramshackle slums alongside the glass-and-steel buildings of Electronics City, were harassed in police sweeps in search of illegal Bangladeshi migrants and had their lives upended. Despite identity proofs—some illegally procured, according to the police—including an income-tax filing in one case, many face harassment and days in police lockups, a violation of their rights.

Awareness by R. Kaleemullah and Rosline Gomes activists from Bangalore, Swaraj Abhiyan

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A new detention center has come up in Uttar Pradesh. Located in the Nandgram area of Ghaziabad, the facility built with the purported objective of lodging illegal immigrants, had been under construction for over a year.

According to media reports the facility has a capacity for lodging 100 inmates, and already has water and electricity connections. According to Dainik Jagran, this facility was previously a hostel for Dalit girl students. Though it had been inaugurated in January 2011, along with a boy’s hostel, it fell vacant a few years ago. That’s when it was decided to convert it into a detention camp.

District Social Welfare Officer Sanjay Kumar Vyas told Dainik Jagran, “The detention camp is ready. Now the police department will oversee it. Immigrants living illegally in UP will be kept here.”

At present there are six functional detention centers in Assam that operate out of makeshift facilities in district jails. Recently the Assam government revealed plans to construct ten dedicated detention camps in the state. In a submission made before the Assam Assembly on July 29, 2019, Chandra Mohan Patowary, Minister of Industry and Transportation, said, “There are six temporary detention camps in Assam. Work of a permanent detention camp is going on in Matia, Goalpara. A proposal has already been sent to the central government for building ten additional detention camps. But so far the central government has not given us the go ahead.” Elaborating upon the proposed location of the camps, Potowary had submitted, “These detention camps will be located in Sivasagar, Nagaon, Karimganj, Nalbari, Lakhimpur, Haflong, Guwahati, Barpeta, Goalpara and Tezpur.”

Apart from this there are detention facilities in Bangalore, Alwar, Amritsar, Delhi and Mapusa. A detention center was being planned in Maharashtra, though that proposal has been placed on ice by the state government in December 2019 amidst the burgeoning movement against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR). Thackeray had appeared to scrap the proposal to construct a facility in Nerul in Navi Mumbai at that time. However, a senior bureaucrat had told Times of India in February 2020, that the state government was in the process of taking possession of a temporary detention centre while the process of identifying land for a permanent detention centre was on.

Two more are also under construction in West Bengal. The Telegraph reported that Bengal is in the process of constructing two detention camps, for which it has identified land in New Town and Bongaon.

The State’s Correctional Services Minister had at that time said that the proposed detention camps had nothing to do with NRC and it is only for foreign nationals who are arrested on criminal charges and who mostly hail from sub-Saharan African nations. According to the state correction services department, Bengal has 110 foreign nationals who are under-trials. The Ministry further said that they are only following the Supreme Court’s directives about keeping foreign nationals in separate detention camps in accordance with international norms.

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The Modi 2.0 government has had two sessions in the Parliament and has been in power for 6 months. In this short stint so far, the ruling government’s actions have spread continued discontent among its populace. First major step was the effectual revocation of Article 370 of Indian Constitution and reorganisation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and effecting a communication blockade in the Kashmir valley.

Secondly, the Citizenship Amendment Bill was introduced and passed by both houses of Parliament in December 2019, thus the bill has now become a law effective January 10, 2020. The law enables grant of citizenship to Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Christians from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The law categorically excludes Muslims from its purview and this has been seen as a divisive policy of the government. Before the passage of the bill, it was also introduced in the previous stint of the government, i.e. in 2016 but the same had lapsed in 2019 as Lok Sabha had dissolved due to end of its tenure.

It was expected that in their new tenure as well they will introduce the law and hence the parliamentary sessions of 2019 saw quite a few questions on illegal intrusions and deportations taken place on the Indian soil, some questions were trying to get an estimate of number of illegal immigrants in the country while some were trying to gauge whether this law was really necessary.
 

Number of illegal migrants

A common thread or piece of information that has been consistent throughout the year, is the answer on number of illegal migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The government, rather the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has consistently maintained that there is no accurate data on data of number of illegal migrants in the country. Ideally an estimate can be made basis the number of cases filed under the Foreigners Act which is the statutory sanction for booking illegal migrants and making them undergo trial. However, the MHA has maintained that they have no data on this as such data has not been maintained.

Ideally for a government claiming that so many people have fled these 3  “Islamic” countries to India to find safe harbour from the religious persecutions in their home countries, they should have first gathered the data on number of such migrants actually present in the country, if they have managed to nab any. It appears therefore, that the law has been made for the benefit of an unspecified set of people, while the government is either unaware how many such people exist in the country or is hiding such figures from its citizenry.

The MHA however, did provide data on Afghan and Pakistani nationals belonging to religious minorities, living in India on long term basis. Per MHA, 41,331 Pak nationals and 4193 Afghan nationals belonging to religious minorities have been reported to be living in India on Long term basis as on December 31, 2018. This data however indicates people from these countries living in India on legal terms, probably on basis of  Long Term Visas (LTV).
 

Deportations from India

Before the six non-Muslim communities could seek refuge and citizenship in India, they have been deported over the years as per the law of the land. Since the data on the religious background of such deported individuals is not available, it is impossible to ascertain how many people of these communities have already been sent back and hence do not stand to benefit from the new law, now known as Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The Central Government is vested with powers to deport a foreign national illegally staying in the country under Section 3(2) (c) of the Foreigners Act, 1946.  These powers to identify and deport illegally staying Bangladeshi Nationals have also been delegated to the State Governments/Union Territory Administrations. Detection and deportation of such illegal immigrants is a continuous process. Details of such deportation orders issued by the State Governments/UT administrations are not centrally maintained.
 

Official data from MHA, as presented in Parliament in 2019:

Karnataka has registered 143 cases against illegal immigration and so far 114 persons staying in Karnataka have been deported.

The latest data on number of inmates in 6 detention camps in Assam is as of November 28 and stands at 970. This number does not indicate that these many people are illegal migrants, nor do they indicate that only these many people have been deemed to be illegal migrants in Assam. For now, there is no definite figure on this number even in the state of Assam. From Assam alone, 6 persons have been deported in 2019 and 227 have been deported (starting range not known) as on December 5, 2019

The Border Security Force (BSF) has been given the authority to detain people who are caught illegally crossing the border between India and Bangladesh and deport them back to Bangladesh. People who illegally enter India from Bangladesh are being arrested/intercepted by BSF/State/UT Police and after completion of legal action against them, are being deported to Bangladesh. The deported persons are handed over at the border to Bangladeshi officials who ensure that the repatriated persons are sent home.

As per MHA, BSF has deported 1,154 people till October 31, 2019 in that year alone. Cumulative data of last 5 years suggests that from 2015 to October 31, 2019, a total of 8,948 persons have been deported to Bangladesh, as a result of having been apprehended on the Indo-Bangladesh border.

While Bureau of Immigration’s data suggests that 1,731 foreigners/immigrants were deported to various countries in 2018, BSF data suggests that in 2018, 1,118 persons have been deported across the Bangladesh border. Which means that out of the total 1,731 deportations in 2018, 1,118 deportations have been made to Bangladesh alone. The Bureau of Immigration’s data remains consistent with data provided by Foreigners Regional Registration Officers (FRROs), while the office of FRRO also provided deportation data for 2016 which stands at 2,476 and for 2017 which stands at 2,272.

As per the Annual Report 2018-19 released by the Ministry of Home Affairs, in a span of 15 months from January 2018 to March 2019, a total of 1,982 foreigners were deported by the FRRO and out of these deported persons, 491 were from Bangladesh and the rest from African countries of Nigerai Somalia.
 

Citizenship granted

As per data provided by MHA, 391 Afghani and 1595 Pakistani migrants, have been granted Indian Citizenship between 2016 and 2018. In 2019, 40 Afghani and 712 Pakistani migrants, have been granted Indian Citizenship till 6th December 2019. A total of 927 Sikhs and Hindus (separate figures not known) from both Afghanistan and Pakistan have been granted citizenship since 2018.

As per data provided by MHA in July, 2019, it has specified that Collectors of 16 districts including three Districts of Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Jaipur in the State of Rajasthan and Secretary (Home) of the seven states  including the state of Rajasthan would exercise powers of the Central Govt. to grant Indian citizenship by registration or naturalization to legal migrants belonging to six minority communities namely Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. This was done as per powers conferred on the government under section 16 of the Citizenship Act, 1955. Section 16 of the Act is a provision for delegation of power by the Central Government to any officer or authority as it may deem necessary. But the government can only delegate a power that it possesses or has been conferred upon it as per the Act. The act, at that time did not have the provision of providing citizenship to migrants belonging to the 6 specified communities. Yet, Rajasthan government and District Collectors of Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Jaipur granted citizenships to people from these six non-Muslim communities much before the Citizenship Amendment Bill was even introduced in the Parliament. The data provided is as follows:

In conclusion, one can infer that the government may not have or is perhaps unwilling to release the data on the number of possible beneficiaries of its new amendment to the Citizenship Act. The law can be said to have been formulated without having a data set on the number of people who stand to benefit from it, while the BJP leaders go about claiming from time to time that scores of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh are settled in India.

The post From the horse’s mouth: MHA releases data on deportations and illegal immigration appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Hindu reported that, the government has publicly declared the number of Bangladeshi nationals who were detained in Bangladesh in the year 2019. The Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) said that the government has initiated legal proceedings against the 999 Bangladeshi who lived illegally in India and were deported back. This announcement was made after talks between BGB and India’s Border Security Force towards the end of December.

At a press conference, Director General of BGB, Major General Shafeenul Islam declared that among the 999 people detained, were 135 children, 258 women and 606 men. Officials said they were arrested on the border, while going to India or returning home. Bangladesh has also reassured India through its foreign police advisor that it would take back its people if they were illegally staying in India, provided it is proved that they are Bangladeshi citizens.

This accounts for another step taken by Bangladesh government towards keeping relations with India friendly. Recently when the Bangladesh Foreign Minister’s cancellation of visit to India was seen as a move condemning the passing of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the Bangladesh government had clarified that the friendly relations still exist and the visit was cancelled due to internal administrative reasons. The Citizenship Amendment Act seeks to grant easy citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan as they are “religiously persecuted” in these countries. This allegation of persecution was known to have not gone down well with Bangladesh.

Simultaneously, India has also received a list of 96 Indians illegally staying in Bangladesh, 62 of which were handed over to BSF and rest were detained. Major General Islam also said that 35 Bangladeshi have been killed in border firing.

The Ministry of Home Affairs submitted to the Parliament in the recently concluded winter sessions that 1,154 Bangladeshis have been apprehended and deported to Bangladesh in the year 2019.

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The post Bangladesh admits 999 cases of illegal immigration to India appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The 61 alleged Bangladeshis who were detained by the Bengaluru police in raids on October 26 are now being ferried to Kolkata to be deported to Bangladesh. The Muslim rag pickers dubbed ‘Bangladeshi’ in Karnataka were recently targeted by the BJP government in a bid to strengthen their call for the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and send out a message to illegal immigrants, The Federal reported.

It was unsure that the immigrants who had now reached Howrah would be dropped at the Petrapole – Benapole (India – Bangladesh border). As the train reached Howrah, activists held protests saying the process of deportation was illegal and inhumane, demanding reasons behind the move, especially in the absence of any official, formal procedure regarding their deportation.

While the ‘Bangladeshis’ were worried about their fate – there was a rumor that they would be held at a detention camp near the border, the police refrained from speaking to both, the media and the illegally detained citizens.

The Petrapole – Benapole border near Bongaon has now become an infamous point in North 24 Parganas for being the preferred route to deport undocumented Bangladeshis who have been nabbed across raids in India. The number of these raids has increased since the BJP came to power.

There have been occasions in the past where migrants who were pushed back by Indian authorities were not accepted by Bangladesh. There is, however, a greater understanding between the border authorities now. The Indian authorities reportedly contact their counterparts in Bangladesh before deporting people.

The group that consisted 29 males, 22 females and 9 children were kept waiting for hours at Howrah station due to the lack of clarity regarding the repatriation procedures.

The Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM) that was investigating the case since the detention wrote to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) with regards to the apprehension and illegal detention of the citizens.

Citing that the detention was shrouded in secrecy and in violation of Articles 21 and 22 of the Indian Constitution, they wrote, “While investigating on their whereabouts we were informed that the accused persons were detained for several hours under police supervision in Howrah railway station after they reached on 23.11.19. From there they were taken to the Nischinda police station in Howrah district where they were kept in the building of a government run training centre under strict police supervision. When contacted the Officer in Charge of Nischinda police station on 24.11.19 over phone, he said that there are no such persons in his police station and told us to contact the Block Development Officer (BDO) of Bally Jagachha block. After we contacted the Block Development Officer over phone he said that the accused persons are being kept in a school building but he refused to impart any other information on whether they are being provided with proper food, clothing, sanitation and medical treatment. He further stated that he is only responsible for keeping them there; the rest is being arranged by the local police and state level police officials. The whole matter is being executed under secrecy and the process is not at all transparent. MASUM perceives this as an autocratic executive decision that goes against the Articles 21 and 22 of the Indian Constitution stating the right to life. According to Intelligence police (border) of West Bengal, those “undocumented migrants” case to be followed with Union Government for further instruction from them. We are shocked to learn that neither Karnataka government, nor West Bengal government knowingly violated well settled procedure as laid down in Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1961 and 1963.”

When MASUM’s fact finding team tried to visit the Nischinda police station to check on the present conditions of the detainees, they were not permitted to do so. They were, instead, asked to get permission from the Block Development Officer (BDO) and were also threatened for breaking in to the restricted premises.  

They then visited the BDO, Mr. Asit Baran Ghosh, who stood by his original statement that he is only responsible for their stay but doesn’t know anything about who is catering to their food and other basic needs. He also stated that he did not visit the place yet.  All these things are being handled by the higher police officials.

MASUM states the detention of these citizens is in severe violation of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution that states ‘No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law’, which translates to every person inside Indian territory, even if the victims are Bangladeshi nationals, is entitled to Right to Life. Also the Article 22 of the Indian Constitution that states, ‘No person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed, as soon as may be, of the grounds for such arrest nor shall he be denied the right to consult, and to be defended by, a legal practitioner of his choice’ and ‘Every person who is arrested and detained in custody shall be produced before the nearest magistrate within a period of twenty four hours of such arrest excluding the time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to the court of the magistrate and no such person shall be detained in custody beyond the said period without the authority of a magistrate’. In the case of these victims, it was informed that they were not even allowed a change of clothes since the day they were taken in custody of police of Karnataka and thereafter, police of West Bengal.

The activists from MASUM and other human rights organizations are upset with the treatment being meted out the victims of religious and ethnic cleansing. They demand a proper investigation of the above incident and that the police should be transparent in line with the law of the land and not act like the decision maker in the process.

Whether or not the State and Centre stand up to answer this question on the gross human rights violations against these detainees, activists have important questions to ask –

· How did the apprehended persons get into the country by crossing the border and work in our country for years and who is responsible for the same?

· Were the detainees produced in court and if they were, why are there no judicial orders for their repatriation?

· How were the detainees identified to be Bangladeshi nationals and whether the Bangladeshi government was intimated of the same?

· Why were the accused not handed over to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ India office and were they even consulted?

· How could the Karnataka government detain them for 348 hours without producing them before a court?

And the most important question of all – Is this a camouflage process of NRC initiated by BJP-led Karnataka Government and allegedly supported by the TMC-led West Bengal Government?

After leaving out 19 lakh people from the NRC in Assam, the government is now planning to extend the exercise to the whole country. Mamata Banerjee who has always vociferously opposed NRC, in a counter to Amit Shah’s statement of NRC being carried in the whole country, has now said that she will regularize all land in the state where refugees have settled since the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war. However, the BJP has dismissed this to be a political tactic for Mamata is scared of losing her minority vote bank. Till date, the rumours of NRC have claimed at least 11 lives in the state.

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The post Activists question Centre’s illegal 348-hour detention of ‘Bangladeshis’ picked from Karnataka appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, has now announced that her government will try to regularise all refugee colonies of up to three acres — on state government, central government as well as private land — and those living in these colonies would be given land rights. This decision comes at the heels of a call for a nation-wide NRC by Union Home Minister, Amit Shah in Rajya Sabha a few days ago, during the winter session. 

Mamata reportedly feels that refugees have the right and hence their settlements needed to be regularised as it has been nearly 50 years and the refugees have been without a home or land. In January, the TMC government had given freehold land rights to residents of 94 refugee colonies which were on state government land and had promised the same for another 237 colonies on private and central government land. Banerjee said over 13,000 and 12,000 families living on land owned by the state and central governments respectively would benefit from the decision.

During the 1971 East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) crisis and the resultant India-Pakistan war, millions of people fled East Pakistan and moved to India, especially West Bengal, as refugees.

BJP’s response

BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha accused Banerjee of “misleading” people. “First of all, the state government has no power or jurisdiction to transfer central government land to anyone.” He accused her of making frivolous announcements only to appease refugees and added that implementation of CAB will give refugees land rights anyway. He also added that BJP’s definition of refugees does not include infiltrators while Mamata Banerjee’s definition does.

By making such a statement, the BJP has once again, indirectly, implied that Muslim refugees are infiltrators who will not be given any rights, as the CAB, as per Amit Shah, will not provide citizenship to Muslim refugees.

Mamata and NRC

The Bengal CM has spoken vehemently against NRC and CAB. At an administrative review meeting in Siliguri town, she reiterated, “There is no question of detention camps. They have to do it through the state government, but we are not going to do that. You can be rest assured about it. There will be no detention camp in Bengal.” She has made assurances to people in Bengal and had famously said, “I’m your paharadar, nobody can displace you from Bengal’.

However, shockingly a few days, it was reported that 2 detention camps were set to come up in Bengal and the government claimed that they were being set up for accommodation of convicted foreign nationals.

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The post Mamata seeks to give land rights to refugees in West Bengal appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Kolkata: At 3.30 pm when Howrah Express (22832) chugged into Howrah Station, a protest erupted in the station. Human Right Activists were seen holding placards stating – “Why is West Bengal Government supporting illegal push back?”; “Immediately stop the illegal and inhuman push back of Bangladeshi” and “Just because they are Bangladeshi, doesn’t mean that you can illegally pushback these people.”

The train in question has brought in 59 detainees, all allegedly Bangladeshis from Karnataka, escorted by 30 police officials, to be deported back to their country.

According to an India Today report, Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao, said, “We had confirmed data/information about the presence of these immigrants in the city. Hence, we followed up and conducted this operation, identified them and took them into custody. The police have decided not to file cases because then these illegal people will spend time in local jails in the city rather they are seeking deportation orders at the earliest.”

And it is this point – police not filing a case against the alleged illegal migrants, that the human right activists in Kolkata are objecting to.

He does, have a point, according to earlier media reports, 61 detainees were to reach Kolkata, however, only 59 reached. Some of the immigrants were seen raising questions about the two detainees, kept back in Karnataka – one a minor boy and the other a girl called Roshan Ara.

Speaking to eNewsroom, Altaf Ahmed, Assistant Secretary, Association for Protection of Democratic Rights, said, “The fact that these Bengali speaking people are being sent back to Bangladesh, without any legal work or documentation is illegal.” According to Human Right Activists, out of the 59 people, 15 are minors, while 25 are women and remaining men.

When asked, what would the legal procedure be, he replied, ” Going by what the Karnata Police is claiming that these 59 people who have been brought to Kolkata are Bangladeshi nationals, then a case should be registered against them and the entire procedure should be documented. This is needed to keep a total headcount of those being sent back. With no proper paperwork, there is a huge risk of trafficking involved.”

He does, have a point, according to earlier media reports, 61 detainees were to reach Kolkata, however, only 59 reached. Some of the immigrants were seen raising questions about the two detainees, kept back in Karnataka – one a minor boy and the other a girl called Roshan Ara.

Ahmed, claimed, “This deportation was clandestinely taking place. However, a tip-off made us come over here. We have even filed a proper FIR with the GRP demanding a proper procedure to access the nationality of these people, some of whom even have Adhaar cards. This needs to done so that these individuals are safely sent back to where ever they belong.”

Interestingly, the detainees along with Karnataka Police had to wait from 3:30 pm till 9:30 pm, to decide on the next move. According to a source, Howrah DM has taken the initiative to provide accommodation to these people, however, there is no clarity on where they would be housed in – a home or jail.

B.M Jamal Hossain, Head of Chancery, Bangladesh Deputy High Commission Kolkata to know about the same. Hossain, said, “We have no official communication on this case either by the Karnataka or West Bengal Government. However, we have come to know regarding this case from other sources.”

There seems to be a sense of fear among the 59 detainees, who are clueless of their immediate future – of being sent back to Bangladesh or detention centre.

Meanwhile, eNewsroom contacted B.M Jamal Hossain, Head of Chancery, Bangladesh Deputy High Commission Kolkata to know about the same. Hossain, said, “We have no official communication on this case either by the Karnataka or West Bengal Government. However, we have come to know regarding this case from other sources.”

On being asked if they would be doing anything to help the detainees, he said, “If the government of India officially contacts us regarding the same, then we will follow the prescribed procedure to have them verified. If we find that they indeed are Bangladeshi citizens, then we will have them sent back.”

He then added that this deportation or branding of people as Bangladeshi needs to be done officially and legally.

Courtesy: eNewsroom

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It was reported that 59 illegal immigrants detained in Bengaluru are being transported to West Bengal to be handed over to the Border Security Force to be eventually deported to Bangladesh.

Sabrang India recently reported how police officials are in a conundrum in the absence of a repatriation treaty with Bangladesh, about how to deal with persons convicted under section 14 of the Foreigners Act, who have served the sentenced as per the Court’s order. They have to await the orders from FRRO (Foreigners Regional Registration Office) with respect to such persons.

But this is in respect to persons who are taken to court, the Foreigners Act gives the government powers to deport a foreign national under section 3(2)(c) of the Foreigners Act, 1946. These powers to identify and deport illegally staying foreign nationals have also been delegated to the State Governments/ Union Territory Administrations and the Bureau of Immigration under the Foreigners Act, 1946.  

The section 3(2)(c) and 3(2)(cc) of the Foreigners Act, 1946 says:

(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, orders made under this section may provide that the foreigner—…

(c) shall not remain in 2[India], or in any prescribed area therein

(cc) shall, if he has been required by order under this section not to remain in India, meet from any resources at his disposal the cost of his removal from India and of his maintenance therein pending such removal

Accordingly, Bengaluru police is in the process of deporting 59 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants who were detained during one of the many crackdown taking place in the state. These immigrants include women and children who were mostly construction labourers, domestic helps and even rag-pickers and were living in slums in Ramamurthy Nagar, Bellandur and Marathahalli for many years. Sabrang India had reported how 29 men, 22 women and nine girls were picked up during a raid in the aforementioned areas. This exercise was carried out by Central Crime Branch.

Reportedly, these immigrants were kept at “detention centres” and in home for women on Hosur Road. While there are no details of which “detention centres” were they housed at, it raises an alarm on the existence of detention centres, which the central government denied few days ago in Parliament, that they existed anywhere apart from Assam. The exact words of the MoS (Minister of State) of MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) when asked if there are detention camps in any other state, apart from Assam, were as follows:

“Detention Centres are set up by State Governments/UT Administrations as per their requirement to detain illegal migrants/foreigners who have completed their sentence pending their deportation to their native country. At present, detention centres have been setup only in the state of Assam.”

While he refrained from categorically denying that detention centers are being set up, in terms of “existence” of detention centres, he did assert that detention centres have been setup only in the state of Assam. If that’s the case then what about these alleged “detention centres” in Karnataka in which these illegal immigrants have been kept since October? Is the State not aware about their existence or has the State kept the Centre, intentionally, in dark about such detention centres? These are questions, answers to which will remain to be evasive and vague so that the general public is kept guessing on the issue.

Reportedly, the immigrants will be handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF) who will then take over the process of deportation. A senior police official was quoted saying, “We decided not to file cases as it would prolong the deportation process.”
 

Deportations from India

As per a press release, from March 2018, approximately 330 Pakistani and approximately 1770 Bangladeshi nationals were repatriated during the last three years which is 2015-2018. Information provided under the RTI (Right to Information) Act, in March 2014, by the MHA stated that 28,131 illegal infiltrators including 899 detected illegal immigrants were deported to Bangladesh up to March 2014.
 

Related:

Police detains 60 suspected Bangladeshi immigrants: Bengaluru
Bengali speaking workers face likely ban in Bengaluru apartments, what’s next?
Cops to take deported Bangladeshis to West Bengal
The game of hits and misses: crackdown on “illegal” immigrants
What to do with ‘illegal immigrants’ after they serve their sentence?

The post 59 ‘illegal immigrants’ from Bengaluru to be deported appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The inability to deport illegal immigrants who have served their sentence in prison, is proving to be a major challenge for authorities. There are reports coming from Bengaluru that although the police have begun their crackdown, they have not been able to bring this whole exercise to culmination. What to do with illegal immigrants once they have served their sentence under the Foreigners Act, 1946 as amended in 2004?

The officials are left in a conundrum as the number of persons being booked under the Foreigners Act is increasing andin the absence of a formal repatriation treaty with Bangladesh, in a few years there will be hordes of illegal immigrants who will have served their sentence and would not know what lies for them in the future, in absence of proper legislation or procedure. Bangladesh has washed its hands off the situation saying that NRC is India’s internal problem. In the absence of any clear direction, while the executive is pre-occupied with implementation of an incomprehensive law, the lacuna in the legislation has not yet been addressed by the government, despite of many people, including the judiciary in Assam having raised this question, “What will you do with these illegal immigrants?”

Recently, a 27 year old woman was declared to be an illegal immigrant and was convicted under section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946 to 5 years in prison. The Sessions court also ruled that she should be deported across the border on completion of her sentence. Where will the law stand at the end of 5 years, nobody knows. The chances of Bangladesh changing their stand on this issue also seems like a long shot. In the absence of order of deportation from the Foreign Regional Registration Office (FRRO), the officials on ground are clueless on how to deal with the situation that will soon befall them.

Sabrang India had recently reported that a 37 year old woman was arrested for overstaying on her student visa she was issued in 2003. She had all valid and legitimate identity documents,and only during her passport verification did the fact come to light and she was booked under the Foreigners Act. She will also undergo trial and if convicted, will be sentenced to imprisonment after which the need to deport her will arise too!

At present the government seems to be shooting arrows in the air, not knowing what the ultimate target is; or it does have an ulterior motive which it will fulfil furtively eventually. It is hard to say at this moment which one is it, but we need a plan right now, and the government has none.

Related:
The game of hits and misses: crackdown on “illegal” immigrants
NRC heat: Police step up crackdown on Bangla nationals

The post What to do with ‘illegal immigrants’ after they serve their sentence? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image Courtesy: The Independent

A new and worrying report in the Saturday edition of Mumbai Mirror, a daily published from Mumbai has highlighted that the Maharashtra government has identified land to build the state’s first detention centre for “illegal immigrants”.

Reportedly, the state home department had written to the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), which is the planning authority for Navi Mumbai and sought a three acre plot on Nerul for the detention centre.

The development comes on the heels of the announcement of final list of the NRC (National Registry of Citizenship) last week in Assam, leaving as many as many as 19 lakh people out of the list, and hence suddenly stripped of citizenship. Those excluded from the list have 90 days now to appeal before the Foreigners’ Tribunals.

However, the same report says that the government sources have “refused to divulge the exact location” of the proposed detention centre in Nerul, saying that the plot has a structure which was till recently being used by an NGO.

The Union government has released ‘2019 Model Detention Manual’ which says that every city or district which has a major immigration check post, must have a detention centre.

An official said that there are “large number of illegal immigrants, especially Bangladeshi citizens, in Mumbai”, although the state home department has refused to share specific numbers. The official also said that since the “process to repatriate them takes time, a detention centre is necessary”. Apparently, currently these illegal migrants are in jail.

On the subject of NRC, BJP in Maharashtra is on the same page with its ally Shiv Sena. Just last Sunday, Shiv Sena’s member of Parliament and Union Minister for Heavy Industries Arvind Sawant demanded that NRC be implemented in Mumbai. “NRC was much needed in Assam to solve the problems of the original inhabitants of the region. That is why we supported the NRC move by the government and want a similar exercise to be held in Mumbai to drive out the Bangladeshis living here, once the process is over in Assam,” Sawant had said.
 

The post First detention Centre to come up in Mumbai for ‘illegal immigrants’: Report appeared first on SabrangIndia.