Director general of Border Guard Bangladesh Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui has said that the recent push-in incidents at the border orchestrated by India were well-planned and despicable.
Besides, it is a violation of human rights, he said after the meeting of the Advisory Council Committee on Law and Order at the Secretariat on Monday.
Home affairs adviser Lieutenant General, retd, Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury was present.
He said, ‘On May 7 and 8, we found 202 people. The BSF pushed them in different ways at different places. They did it in places where there are no people or settlements.’
He said for those who are Bangladeshis, BGB is trying to repatriate them to their respective areas.
‘Among them, 39 Rohingyas were found. They were registered with our Rohingya camp, but somehow they escaped. We have sent them back to the camp.’
The BGB DG said, ‘One of the alarming things is that some Rohingyas were found who are refugees of the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) in India, they are registered there. We also have their ID cards.’
They should have been kept in the country where the refugees are. ‘We have found five such refugees.’
Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui said, ‘We want to inform everyone through our Foreign Ministry that this thing is a violation of human rights.’
The BSF, as usual, is not accepting the allegations, the DG said, ‘They (BSF) are saying that they do not know about this. Maybe they went to India on their own, maybe they are returning on their own, and are trying to say something like that.’
However, BGB did not accept BSF’s claims. We have held a flag meeting and submitted a protest letter. At the same time, we have asked our Foreign Ministry to contact the Indian Foreign Ministry.
The BGB DG further added that if they are Bangladeshis, we will receive them in a formal process not through stealth like this.
‘We have come to know that there are about 200 to 300 more refugees on the other side towards Khagrachari. The BSF tried to push them in. Due to our increased patrols and vigilant eyes, they are not able to,’ he said.
He also said that there is a remote Mandarbaria char in the Sundarbans, where 78 people have been dumped on an Indian ship. The Coast Guard is in the process of rescuing them and sending them to their own areas.
‘We are keeping a watchful eye, and at the same time, we are protesting to the Indian Foreign Ministry through our Foreign Ministry,’ added the DG.
