About 1,000 people were arrested last year (2019) for illegal border crossings from India to Bangladesh, with 445 of them returning home in November and December.
The returnees are all Bangladeshi nationals who went to India illegally in different times and have nothing to do with the citizenship law in India, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Director General Major General Shafeenul Islam said on Thursday, reports bdnews24.com.
A flag meeting was held between the two border guard agencies from Dec 25 to Dec 30 in New Delhi.
In August, the Indian government published the National Register of Citizens for Assam where 1.9 million people were dropped from it. Those marked as ‘illegal Bangladeshis’ would be deported, the Indian media reported.
Several people arrested for entering Bangladesh through the Indian border were reported since the publication of National Register of Citizen (NRC).
India also amended its citizenship law sparking violent protests. The Bangladesh foreign minister and the home minister cancelled their planned visits to India as protests flared.
"We haven't allowed in any intruder,” said the BGB chief when asked how many illegal intruders were identified in 2019.
Three traffickers were among those arrested, he said. They were handed over to the police after ensuring they are Bangladeshi nationals.
“They were all Bangladeshis and went to India in search of jobs," said Islam.
There was no discussion on the NRC at the director general-level meeting between the two countries.
