August 13, 2025

The Border Security Force (BSF) is keeping sharp eyes on the India-Bangladesh border, and the numbers this year have taken everyone by surprise! According to a senior government official, over 3,536 undocumented migrants - mostly suspected to be from Bangladesh - were caught trying to leave India voluntarily by July 15, 2025. That's more than three times the 1,049 caught in all of 2024! On the flip side, fewer people tried to enter India illegally this year; only 1,372 were stopped till mid-July compared to 2,425 last year. What’s causing this? The official explains that after big political changes in Bangladesh on August 5, 2024, more undocumented migrants chose to leave India on their own. This voluntary departure is very different from the “pushback” operations by Indian police and the BSF, which are ongoing after a terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, 2025. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) pushed states to find and deport undocumented Bangladeshis living in India on fake papers. But the “pushback” actions, which are technically not defined by law, have raised eyebrows. Estimates say around 2,500 suspected Bangladeshis have been pushed back across the border. Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Samirul Islam spoke out about the issue, stating, “At least seven people from West Bengal who were illegally pushed into Bangladesh by the BSF have been brought back thanks to the State government and families filing habeas corpus petitions in Calcutta High Court.” However, the BSF denies these pushback accusations. A senior BSF official said their force patrols the long 4,096 km border with Bangladesh very closely, following MHA’s strict orders: “Do not allow anyone into the country without valid documents.” The official also shared, “Undocumented migrants leaving the country voluntarily is not new. We have caught both Indians and Bangladeshis crossing illegally before. But since August 2024, the numbers leaving have sharply increased. If they’re not linked to serious crimes, we let them go because holding them means long legal procedures.” Looking at some big figures, from 2018 to now, 17,637 Bangladeshis have been intercepted by BSF along the eastern border. Just in 2023, the number caught was 3,342. This shows how the India-Bangladesh border remains a hotspot for migration and tight security watch. In short, the eastern border buzz is hotter than ever! The mix of political changes, stricter rules, and human stories is shaping what we see at the frontier. Will these trend continue or change again? Time will tell.

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Tags: Bsf, Bangladesh migrants, Undocumented migrants, Pushback, India-bangladesh border, Mha,