Bangladesh says it stopped multiple Indian border push-in attempts

DHAKA: Bangladesh said on Thursday that it had blocked several alleged attempts by Indian authorities to force people across the border into its territory over the past 24 hours, in a development that has again brought tensions over undocumented migration into focus and complicated efforts to improve bilateral relations.

The two countries share one of the world’s longest land borders, extending more than 4,000 kilometres across varied terrain, a factor that makes monitoring difficult. Border Guard Bangladesh said it detected 10 attempted intrusions by Indian authorities in different sections of the frontier during the period.

According to Bangladesh’s border force, one of the incidents took place in the southwestern district of Jhenaidah, where personnel of India’s Border Security Force allegedly tried to move between 30 and 35 people towards Bangladeshi territory in a prison van after opening a border gate. The BGB said its personnel intervened and compelled the vehicle to turn back.

In a statement, the Bangladeshi force said it would not permit any person or group to enter the country unlawfully through the border. Any move that breached accepted norms of international border management and bilateral understandings would be firmly opposed.

"No individual or group will be allowed to enter Bangladesh illegally through the border"

The dispute comes amid renewed concern in Bangladesh over what officials, rights groups and analysts have described as push-ins — informal transfers of people into Bangladesh without verification of nationality or completion of repatriation procedures. Last month, Bangladeshi border guards stepped up patrols and began public awareness campaigns in parts of the border area over fears that India was illegally sending people into Bangladesh.

India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which is in power in the border states of Tripura, West Bengal and Assam, has said curbing undocumented migration is a priority. Since last year, India has been attempting to push Bengali-speaking Muslims it has labelled illegal infiltrators into Bangladesh.

The issue has added strain to efforts by Dhaka and New Delhi to repair ties after the 2024 removal of Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s long-time India-aligned leader. Bangladesh has repeatedly maintained that if any person is established to be a Bangladeshi national, they should be returned through formal legal and diplomatic procedures rather than being pushed across the border.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in May that it had asked Bangladesh to verify the nationality of more than 2,860 people suspected of living illegally in India. India’s Border Security Force and the external affairs ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

Government officials in Dhaka said the matter is expected to come up during director-general-level talks between the border forces of the two countries in New Delhi from June 8 to 11.