Organized Network Facilitates Illegal Immigration from Bangladesh to India for Cheap Labor

NEW DELHI: A large majority of Bangladeshi illegal immigrants who sneak into India are not here to organically ‘explore’ economic opportunities; they cross over as part of a well-oiled labour supply chain, with Indian employers in states far from the border relying on headhunting touts in Bangladesh for cheap labour. The ‘jobs for illegal immigrants’ eco-system has touts at every stage — facilitating infiltration, transportation to job sites and arranging forged documentation before settling them into jobs across sectors such as textile manufacturing, construction and pharmaceuticals. “It’s an organised eco-system that comprises Bangladeshi recruitment touts who, based on requirements of Indian employers for cheap labour, identify unemployed Bangladeshis seeking low-paid, unskilled jobs in India. Every step, from their illegal entry into India to reaching their job locations, is planned well in advance,” a senior Assam govt official told TOI. The official said infiltration guides help the selected Bangladeshis cross over, mostly through Meghalaya, Tripura and West Bengal. Agents on the Indian side arrange their transit to Assam and onward train journeys from Guwahati to job locations across the country. Local touts help them secure forged documents like Aadhaar before another set of agents hand them over to Indian employers willing to hire them at wages lower than those payable to Indians. Assam, which recently busted one such tout network transporting illegal immigrants from Guwahati railway station to Tamil Nadu to work in a textile factory, leading to 34 arrests, raised the issue at the all-India conference of SPs of border districts chaired by home minister Amit Shah on July 9. The state sought a legal framework to hold Indian employers exploiting the Bangladeshi illegal immigration network accountable. Intelligence sources said Bangladeshi headhunters work on labour demand conveyed by agents linked to Indian employers. The network also arranges forged Aadhaar and PAN cards in destination states, enabling illegal immigrants to register as workers and move between work sites. “Armed with the same documents, many went on to project themselves as Indian citizens and even enrolled as voters. Special intensive revision (SIR), however, may have cut their dream run short by requiring proof of their parents’ or relatives’ presence in the 2002 rolls,” a police officer told TOI.