NEW DELHI: A sudden spurt in the number of Bangladeshi nationals coming to India on tourist visa has put the security agencies on alert. The number of Bangladeshi tourists has doubled in last two years, according to a recent government data.
What has sent alarming signals among the intelligence and security agencies is a trend that showed a consistent rise of Bangladeshi tourist arrivals in the last few years and a sudden spike last year. While 9.4 lakh Bangladeshi tourists came to the country in 2014, the number went up to 11.3 lakh in 2015, 13.8 in 2016 and 21 lakh in 2017. A rough analysis shows that the number witnessed consistent growth till 2016 and it went up sharply by 50% in 2017.
Interestingly, Bangladesh accounted for the highest share of tourist arrivals in India, followed by the US and the UK in the last three years. In 2017, 21.6 lakh Bangladeshi tourists arrived in the country, while the number of tourists from the US was 13.8 lakh and from the UK was 9.8 lakh.
The Border security Force (BSF) has raised concerns over an increasing number of Bangladeshi immigrants reaching India through the legal route (tourist visas).
“The main concern is that many Bangladeshi nationals who arrive here on tourist visas don’t return and generally overstay illegally,” said a senior BSF official, adding that the tourist visa has become a tool for several Bangladeshi nationals to enter India and stay here.
Interestingly, instances of illegal immigrants caught at the border have seen an opposite trend, making it clear that most Bangladeshi immigrants prefer to enter India through the legal channel now. The number of Bangladeshis caught crossing the border went down from 3,426 in 2015 to 1,175 in 2017.
A senior official of the Ministry of Home Affairs said the trend is a matter worth looking into. “The ministry is seized of the matter. The data related to Bangladeshi nationals from different sources will be analysed,” said he said.
Meanwhile, an official from the tourism ministry put the spurt in Bangladeshi tourist arrivals as a result of the strengthened ties between the two countries in the recent times.
The issue of illegal immigration of Bangladeshi nationals was also raised in the Parliament last month. Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Home Affairs, had said it remained an issue of concern.
“Despite erection of border fence in various stretches, the Indo- Bangladesh border continues to remain vulnerable to illegal infiltration by Bangladeshi nationals through unfenced stretches and gaps. Infiltrators generally cross over to India clandestinely and mingle with adjoining population, taking advantages of physical, linguistic and cultural similarities,” Rijiju had said.
“The issues of illegal infiltration from Bangladesh and security and border management are regularly taken up at various levels, including Home Secretary-level talks between India and Bangladesh. Bangladesh authorities have been urged to take effective steps to check the illegal infiltration of their citizens into India, especially through vulnerable and riverine areas,” he had said.
