Assam Intensifies Crackdown on Illegal Immigrants, 18 More Pushed Back to Bangladesh

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who described deportation as a special gesture of pushback in his social media post, said that his government has decided to further intensify the statewide crackdown on illegal immigrants living in the state without any valid documents.

Informing that pushback drive was carried out in Cachar and Sribhumi districts, the chief minister in his social media post said, “Oh look who's going back to their home? In Assam, we welcome guests with open arms but those trying to illegally prolong their stay are treated with the special gesture of PUSHBACK.”

He also said, “18 illegal Bangladeshis pushed back today in the wee hours from Cachar and Sribhumi.” The Assam Police have launched a statewide crackdown on illegal immigrants, particularly Bangladeshis, residing without valid documents.

Mr Sarma had said earlier that nearly 330 illegal immigrants have been sent back from Assam in about the last one month, with more expected to be pushed back soon.

Meanwhile, security sources said that this push back without taking the Border Guards of Bangladesh (BGB) into confidence was resulting in many of them returning back to India.

Security sources said that several Muslims who had been pushed towards Bangladesh are said to have returned home on their own after the BGB left them at the international border.

Indicating that hundreds of those pushed back through no man’s land by the Border Security Forces (BSF) in borders adjoining Assam reportedly came back through the border in Meghalaya, security sources said that they have started the exercise of verifying all such claims that was reported in the media also.