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West Bengal is “slightly friendly” to the Rohingyas and has set up special camps for about 70 such families, BSF Director General K K Sharma told reporters in Delhi, asserting he has got an inquiry conducted to ascertain their numbers.

The chief of the border guarding force, which guards the 4,096–km–long India–Bangladesh frontier, said they are alive to the issue and there has not been any large–scale influx of these Myanmar–based migrants into India.

■ BSF Director General K K Sharma

“We are alive to the situation. We have intelligence inputs that a large number of Rohingyas are assembled there in Bangladesh and from time–to–time some small groups did try to enter India, but I am very happy to say that we did not let them succeed.

We have intelligence inputs that a large number of Rohingyas are assembled there in Bangladesh and from time–to–time some small groups did try to enter India, but I am very happy to say that we did not let them succeed

“So, there has not been any large–scale influx of Rohingyas into India. Whatever Rohingyas are already there in the country… In fact, they are also under pressure at some places; so they are going to West Bengal, a state which is slightly friendly with them.”

“They have set up camps for Rohingyas coming from within the country (India) and not from Bangladesh,” Sharma said at a press conference he held with his visiting Bangladeshi counterpart, after finished DGLT.

Rohingyas movement from Myanmar is not migration. They have 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

We got it (Rohingyas presence in West Bengal) inquired, the DG said, and there were about 70 odd families who had come from various places within India.

“So, I am very happy to say the BSF has successfully contained the influx of Rohingyas and we have not allowed any intrusion so far. This has also been verified by our sister security agencies,” Sharma asserted.

Border Guards Bangladesh DG Maj Gen Md Shafeenul Islam was also asked the same question and he replied that they are “very much alert” to prevent unauthorised movement of Rohingyas in their country and towards the border areas.

■ Members of a Muslim organisation donating money to Hosen Gazi, who runs an NGO Desh Bachao Samajik Committee and decided to shelter Rohingyas.

“There are large number of Rohingyas along the Bangladesh–Myanmar border and all the security agencies including BGB 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.

“Our security forces are very much alert and as we detect them, we get them back to our camps again. We are very keen on keeping them in the designated camps,” the BGB chief said.

He said any decision on this subject is the prerogative of the Bangladeshi government.

“This (Rohingyas movement from Myanmar) is not migration. They have 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,” Islam said.

A high–level delegation of the BGB, led by Islam, on Friday concluded their six–day visit and bi–annual meeting with the BSF on various border–related issues.

At a press conference in November last year, the BSF DG had said there were about 36,000 Rohingyas in various parts of the country and the paramilitary force had upped its ante against their illegal influx into India, “as their links with terror organisations cannot be ruled out”.

He had said the BSF had not come across any specific case where a Rohingya they caught possessed arms, ammunition or had terror connection.

Last year, the BSF DG had said there were about 36,000 Rohingyas in various parts of the country and the paramilitary force had upped its ante against their illegal influx into India, “as their links with terror organisations cannot be ruled out

“But, the threat that they have some links with terror organisations is a very serious one and has been given by our sister agencies and I don’t doubt them,” Sharma had said.

The BSF chief also said that the first ‘smart fence’ pilot project, which entails deploying laser fences and technology enabled barriers to plug venerable gaps along India’s borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Director General, Border Security Force, K K Sharma said India’s relation with Bangladesh and its border guarding force, BGB, are very friendly at present, and their priority is to install these smart gadgets, as part of the comprehensive integrated border management system (CIBMS), along the Pakistan frontier first.

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“The first pilot project of the CBIM system or smart fence is already in place and working in Jammu. On the eastern side in Dhubri, across the Brahmaputra, we have installed technical solutions on a stretch of 55–60 kilometres because there is no possibility of erecting a fence there,” the BSF chief told reporters here.

CBIM system or smart fence is already in place and working in Jammu. On the eastern side in Dhubri, across the Brahmaputra, we have installed technical solutions on a stretch of 55–60 kilometres because there is no possibility of erecting a fence there

He said the border guarding force is using a number of latest gadgets and technology to guard this area on the eastern side. They have been integrated and a CCTV–like feed will be given to the border post and immediate action can be taken against any intrusion attempt.

“This (Dhubri) is almost completed and likely to be inaugurated on September 27. These are initial phases. We have identified vulnerable areas along the borders and roughly an area of about 2,400–km has been identified for rolling out the CIBMS ultimately,” Sharma said. ■

—with inputs from PTI