GUWAHATI: Fifteen Rohingyas, including some women, have remained stranded on the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura since Thursday as the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) refused to recognize them after they were prevented from entering India by the Border Security Force (BSF).
Official sources said the BSF and the BGB had already held a flag meeting but that failed to break the ice. According to the BSF, the Rohingyas had made an attempt to infiltrate through Rahimpur border in Tripura’s Sepahijala district.
The BSF claimed the persons were in possession of items supplied by international aid agencies and this established they had come from a refugee camp in Bangladesh. However, the BGB refused to recognize them.
As the standoff continued, the BSF and the BGB were supplying food and other essential items to them. A medical team was also sent to the site by the BSF as two women had issues pertaining to their pregnancy.
The BSF and the BGB were locked in a similar standoff on a similar issue in Tripura last year.
Tens of thousands of Rohingyas had fled to Bangladesh two years ago in the wake of a crackdown against them by the military of Myanmar. They have been lodged in relief camps set up by the Bangladesh government in the country’s Cox Bazar area.
The refugees often use the Tripura corridor of the international border to sneak into India. Given the illegal influx, the Centre had earlier sent an advisory to the BSF and the states in the Northeast to be on a high alert.