The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said that all foreign nationals staying illegally in India, including those from Bangladesh, are subject to the laws of the country and will be dealt with accordingly.
The MEA reiterated that New Delhi follows a structured bilateral mechanism for the deportation of illegal Bangladeshi nationals and expressed hope that pending nationality verification requests with Dhaka would be expedited.
Addressing his weekly media briefing here, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “All foreign nationals in India, if they are here illegally, including those from Bangladesh, we have laws to deal with them, and they’ll be dealt with accordingly.”
Jaiswal’s remarks came as Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) claimed that it has “thwarted” 10 alleged BSF “push-in” attempts along different sections of the India-Bangladesh border.
The MEA spokesperson further stated that India follows a formal bilateral process that requires confirmation of nationality by the Bangladeshi authorities before any deportation can take place.
“As far as the deportation of these people is concerned, there is a bilateral mechanism in place. Once we refer these cases to the Bangladeshi side for them to verify the nationality of these people and once it is verified, then we take forward the deportation process,” he said.
“We have several or many of these requests which are still pending with the Bangladeshi side and we hope and expect that they will be expedited as soon as possible so that the deportation of people who are illegally staying in India can be taken forward smoothly and efficiently,” the MEA spokesperson added.
Earlier, on Thursday, the BGB issued a statement claiming that it had prevented 10 separate illegal “push-in” attempts allegedly carried out by the Border Security Force (BSF) in various border areas over 24 hours.
Earlier, Addressing his weekly media briefing in New Delhi on May 29, Jaiswal said, “All illegal nationals staying in India will be dealt with as per the law.”
“In the case of Bangladesh, as I had informed you earlier, we have referred more than 2,680 cases to the Bangladeshi side for verification of the nationality of those people whose names we have shared with them. Once this nationality verification is completed, we will be in a position to deport these Bangladeshi nationals,” Jaiswal stated.
“In many cases, as I had told you earlier, this verification has been pending for more than five years or so. We expect that we will receive an early response from Bangladesh on this issue so that, based on the bilateral arrangement between the two countries, these people staying here can be sent back or deported to Bangladesh,” he added.