India 'migrant' evictions seed fear in Bangladesh border towns

JESSORE: Rice farmer Mohammad Ismail Hossain fears violence could blight his quiet fields in southwestern Bangladesh, on the front line of a growing Indian push to expel "undocumented migrants".

The countries share a porous 4,096-kilometer (2,500-mile) border, with communities on either side often so interwoven that crossings -- illegal or not -- are common.

Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has been stepping up deportations of "illegal migrants" to Bangladesh, a campaign that critics say unfairly targets Bengali-speaking Muslims.

Rights groups say those efforts have gathered more momentum since Modi's Hindu-nationalist party won power in West Bengal state, which borders Bangladesh, for the first time last month.

"(India) says that those found to be Bangladeshi would be sent back after verifying their documents," Hossain, 66, told AFP at a tea stall in the border region of Khulna-Jessore.

"But no one seems to be verifying anything. They are pushing people in, left, right and center," he said.

Authorities say many people in the border region lack proper documents to prove their citizenship, mainly due to poverty, a lack of awareness, and a long history of informal movement.

"If the situation escalates, there could be a bigger conflict, with shots being fired... India, being the larger country, can forcefully do anything," said a worried Hossain.

 'Infiltrators' 

The borderland communities long predate the 1947 partition of British India, which delineated the frontier of the nation now called Bangladesh.

Along some stretches, it is often difficult to distinguish one country from the other.

Family networks straddle both sides. Some homes may even have their kitchen in Bangladesh and their courtyard in India.

India has informally "pushed back illegal migrants" into Bangladesh for decades, but activists say the political changeover in West Bengal has boosted the deportation campaign.

The state government has set up detention centers and claimed to have forced out nearly 5,000 "Bangladeshi infiltrators".

The escalation has riled Bangladesh, which is equally reluctant to absorb groups of people whose identities are not immediately clear.

Bangladeshi border guards have increased patrols and issued warnings through loudspeakers that no one may enter without verification, Mahmudul Hasan, a regional commander, told AFP.

"We are willing to accept our citizens once their nationality has been verified by both countries, but we are not taking unidentified nationals," Hasan said.

"Rules must apply even to undocumented people."

Since June 5, Bangladeshi guards have thwarted at least 35 attempts by India to force migrants over the border, a Bangladeshi spokesman told AFP.

West Bengal police official Subrata Saha insisted Indian authorities were only handing over deportees "after it is proved that they crossed the Indian border illegally and they are Bangladeshi nationals".

Battered, bruised 

Meanwhile, many "undocumented migrants" remain in limbo, and humanitarian concerns are mounting.

At a hospital in the city of Satkhira, Mohammad Mohiuddin lay recovering from injuries he says were inflicted by Indian guards as he was trying to wade across a lake into Bangladesh.

"They hit me in the eye with the butt of a rifle and shot me," he told AFP from his bed. "I don't deserve such cruelty."

A senior official from India's Border Security Force refused to comment when contacted by AFP.

Women and children have reportedly spent days stranded along the "zero line" -- the narrow buffer zone separating Bangladesh from India -- relying on villagers for food and water.

Viral videos show frightened families huddled near border fences while Indian and Bangladeshi personnel argue over who should take responsibility for them.

Rights groups say the crisis exposes the grueling poverty that drives many Bangladeshis to cross illegally.

They also worry that India could arbitrarily decide to push Rohingya refugees, who are mainly Muslim, across the border.

Bangladesh already hosts more than one million Rohingya refugees from neighboring Myanmar, a huge economic and social burden for one of the world's less-developed countries.

Torn apart 

Many villagers do not see illegal border crossings as criminal because of the deep historical and family ties linking communities on both sides, said ABM Mohid Hossain, who works with the non-profit Justice and Care.

"Some people cross in search of work because they have family members on the other side," he told AFP.

For some families, the suffering continues long after they are detained.

At least 20 Bangladeshi children were repatriated in May while their parents were jailed in India on charges of illegal entry, according to police and human rights groups.

Among them was 14-year-old Sumi Khatun, who said she and her younger sister were separated from their family after being detained a year ago.

Sumi, whose parents are Bangladeshi, says she was born in India but lacks the documents to prove that.

"They arrested us and separated my little sister and me from our mother and brother," she said.

"My father's grave is in Delhi, my mother and brother are in jails in different cities in India, and my sister and I are in Bangladesh," she said.

Sumi said she no longer wants anything to do with the country where her family was torn apart.

"I will never go to India again... Just bring my mother and brother back so that we can all live together again."