Twelve Rohingya refugees apprehended in September: BSF

NEW DELHI: Indian border forces have apprehended only 12 Rohingya refugees in the past month who infiltrated into India via Bangladesh, at a time when almost 4 lakh refugees fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar. Speaking to a select group of journalists this week KK Sharma, director-general Border Security Force, said.

While the possibility of a spillover of refugees from Myanmar via Bangladesh is "very real" the actual figures of those crossing into India are less than alarming, attributing it to greater vigilance on the border.

Revealing figures at variance with popular perception, Sharma added that in the past two years, only about 200 Rohingya refugees have made it into India. Questioned about the figure of 40,000 often bandied about, Sharma said these refugees have been trickling in for over a decade — since the waves of violence and Rohingya exodus has been happening in fits and starts dating back to 1982 when they were first denied citizenship by the Myanmar government.

Meanwhile, the Indian government has given a draft memorandum of understanding (MOU) to the Myanmar government for a development programme for the troubled Rakhine state. This was agreed during the prime minister's visit there last month, and the draft is currently being studied by the Myanmar government. In addition, India is fast-tracking planning for a few of the small development projects identified for Rakhine as well.

Stressing that Indian border forces do not distinguish between Rohingya and Bangladeshis, who have been coming in for years as well, Sharma said, "Our policy is stopping any kind of illegal immigration. If we spot them, we stop them. We have identified vulnerable border outposts where crossings happen and strengthen them. We have also deployed gadgets like hand-held thermal imagers to these border outposts to identify stealthy movement of people."

Most of the crossings, he said are attempted through southern Bengal, where a part of the border goes through riverine areas. "We have increased number of patrols and sometimes even hire boats so that we can cover the rivers/nullah gaps in the border."

There has been a huge outcry in India over Rohingya crisis, leading to the popular belief that just as they are crowding into Bangladesh, they are also crossing over to India in droves. Sharma asserted there was little possibility of the Rohingya entering India through other states, particularly because India and Myanmar's Rakhine state are not contiguous.

However, there is a real possibility of the radicalised Rohingya, which, in part is fuelling popular fears. Sharma admitted they had identified a Rohingya militant in Kashmir, some militant informers are also Rohingya, he added, including those who identify with ISIS.

Modi's visit to Myanmar came in the midst of the outcry against the Aung San Suu Kyi government for the violence against the Rohingya who were fleeing into Bangladesh, creating a humanitarian crisis there. Although India modified its earlier stance of looking at the Rohingya issue purely from the point of view of the Myanmar authorities, a mostly counter-terrorism lens, India has quietly supported Myanmarese action against the extremist elements.

India has committed to helping Bangladesh cope with the huge influx, sending 7,000 tons of relief material to the refugee camps. In addition, New Delhi and Dhaka have reportedly stepped up cooperation to identify extremists and radicalised people within the refugee population.