It had stopped raining
when I reached the Gojadanga Border Security Force (BSF) border observation
point (BOP) at night along the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal’s North
24 Parganas district. A robust(strong,मजबूत) figure, handcuffed and accompanied by two
border personnel, emerged from the dense haze and walked towards the BOP.
It was Mohammad Ehsan
(name changed), a Bangladeshi national, who was apprehended(arrested,गिरफ्तार) by BSF personnel late in
the evening for crossing the border. He had fake documents which had been
prepared by a tout from Bangladesh. Ehsan told me that he was from Satkhira
district in Bangladesh and had entered Gojadanga with help from the same tout,
to seek medical treatment for his chronic back pain. He didn’t seem ill going
by his inconsistent statements and robust appearance.
Migrant smuggling from
Bangladesh is a critical issue along the Gojadanga border. Article 3 of the
Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing
the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, defines
migrant smuggling as “the procurement, in order to obtain, directly or
indirectly, a financial or other material benefit, of the illegal entry of a
person into a state party of which the person is not a national”.
Gojadanga is an obscure(unclear,अस्पस्थ) zero line village and shares the border
with Bhomra village in Satkhira district of Bangladesh. Gojadanga is manned by
the BSF while the Bhomra border is looked after by the Border Guard Bangladesh
(BGB). A BSF official said, “The Indo-Bangladesh land border along the
Gojadanga village, which stretches 3 km, is completely unfenced, with
habitation up to zero line on both sides of the border. This makes it extremely
vulnerable(weak,कमज़ोर) to illegal migration from Bangladesh.” The
key reasons for illegal migration include job opportunities, medical treatment
and visits to families on the Indian side of the border.
When I tried to probe
further on trafficking in persons, drugs, cattle and fake currency, he
asserted, “Hardly any cases of human trafficking have been detected in the past
few years.”
He continued, “a few
years back, cattle smuggling was rampant(uncontrolled,अनियंत्रित) along the border.
However, due to the efforts of the current government, it has drastically
reduced. And trafficking in drugs and fake currency is not an issue along the
Gojadanga border.”
But a local source told
me that smuggling of Phensedyl cough syrup does take place from India to
Bangladesh.
Dynamics behind trafficking
As far as human
trafficking is concerned, it is extremely difficult for the BSF to detect it
along the border. First, the illegal migrant who was apprehended by the BSF can
remain in its custody for not more than 24 hours. Thereafter, the migrant is
usually sent to the police station from where the case proceeds. Second, migrants
from Bangladesh are often unaware that they are being trafficked. They may
cross the border with help from a tout who promises them job opportunities in
India and on entering West Bengal or other parts of India from West Bengal, he
sells them into prostitution or forced labour. Here it may become difficult for
the BSF to make a distinction(difference,भेद) between migrant
smuggling and human trafficking. A State official told me that there have also
been cases where BSF personnel have been complicit in helping Bangladeshis
cross the border.
Once the Bangladeshi
victim of trafficking and the migrant smuggler or trafficker are apprehended by
border personnel, they are most often sent to the police station. They are
usually charged under the Foreigners Act, 1946, for illegally entering India.
The act states that if an offender is a foreigner, he/she should be punished
under this act and deported. The cross-national touts/migrant smugglers are set
free after a sentence of few months. However, the victim is mostly sent to a shelter
home in West Bengal till the time the he or she can be repatriated to
Bangladesh.
Indian laws barely
penalise traffickers adequately(sufficiently,पर्याप्तता). The trafficker can be
charged under Section 366B of the Indian Penal Code, which states that
importation of a girl below the age of 21 years is a punishable offence.
However, this provision is rarely implemented since police officers are usually
unaware of it.
Vulnerable stretch
Gojadanga is divided into
Uttarpada and Dakshinpada. While Dakshinpada’s population is entirely Hindu,
Uttarpada is Muslim-dominated. Large-scale poverty and unemployment in the
village has driven some of its residents to engage in murky and illegal
activities. A local said, “Due to poverty some villagers have made migrant
smuggling their profession.”
A State official added,
“The touts of Bangladesh and India are part of a larger network. They have made
bases in the bordering villages taking advantage of a similar cultural,
religious and linguistic character.” Moreover, “some panchayat members are
directly or indirectly involved in migrant smuggling; some of them are
ex-smugglers and ex-touts.”
According to a BSF
official, “Fencing along the Gojadanga border may help reduce illegal migration
and other illegal activities; work towards building the fence along the border
is ongoing.”
The United Nations Office
on Drugs and Crime notes, “Migrant smuggling affects countries of origin,
transit and destination”. Thus, it “requires the collaborative response of all”
and strong multi-agency cooperation. It further requires a multi-dimensional
and comprehensive response, which focusses on addressing the socioeconomic root
causes of irregular migration, and the prosecution of those who commit
smuggling-related crimes.
courtesy:the hindu
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