BSF chief accuses Bengal of being Rohingya friendly

New Delhi: At a time when various central security and intelligence agencies have described presence of Rohingyas as potential threat, Border Security Force chief K.K. Sharma on Friday described West Bengal as being “slightly friendly’’ to these illegal migrants and that the state government had set up a camp for 70 such families. According to security agencies an estimated 40,000 Rohingyas are said to be staying illegally in  different parts of the country.

Mr Sharma however, clarified that so far there has been no major influx of Rohingyas into the country through the Indo-Bangladesh border. ''We are fully aware of the fact that a large number of Rohingyas are present in Bangladesh. Though they at times do try to cross over into India but so far our forces have not let them succeed,’’ the BSF chief added.  Mr Sharma claimed that even illegal Rohingyas in the country were also feeling the heat and some of them were shifting to West Bengal now which was “slightly friendly to them.’’ “West Bengal has put up camps for Rohingyas,” he said. who are shifting from within the country there but are not coming in from Bangladesh. There are about 70 such families in these camps who have come from different places within the country,’’ Mr Sharma clarified.

The BSF DG categorically ruled out any major influx of Rohingyas from Bangladesh saying BSF had been very successful in stopping this.

Even head of the Border Guards Bangladesh DG Maj Gen Md Shafeenul Islam also stated that they were ''very much alert’’ to stop any unauthorised entry of Rohingyas from their country into India. ''A large number of Rohingyas are present along the Bangladesh-Myanmar and we are keeping them confined to the area allocated to them. But yet, in very few cases, they are slipping out of the camps and we are finding them in some other parts of Bangladesh,’’ he added

Mr Islam said that movement of Rohingyas was not migration but they had been forcibly displaced. ''This is a political decision and at the political level, the Bangladesh government is trying to resolve the problem with help of the international community,’’ he further said.

A delegation comprising senior officials from BSF and the BGB concluded their six-day visit and bi-annual meeting on various border-related issues on Friday.

Meanwhile, the first ‘smart fence’ pilot project, which involves greater use of technology like laser fences to cover venerable gaps along India’s borders, is expected to be formally launched by Home Minister Rajnath Singh later this week. Subsequently, technology will be used along 2,400 kilometers of India’s border with Pakistan and Bangladesh in the future, Mr Sharma added.

Using greater technology along the borders with Bangladesh and Pakistan is part of the Home Ministry’s Comprehensive Integrated Border management System (CIBMS).