Task forces to identify illegal Rohingya, Bangladeshi migrants: Tripura CM

Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha said on Sunday that the state government has formed task forces to identify and deport illegal immigrants, particularly Rohingyas and Bangladeshi nationals staying unlawfully in the state.

After visiting various parts of the capital city to supervise the basic issues of the people, the Chief Minister said that the district-level task forces would identify the illegal migrants and take due course of action.

As per the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, people belonging to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians who came to India from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan before December 31, 2014 they would be allowed to stay in India.

“The task forces would identify the foreign nationals and would also verify when they came to Tripura. The task forces would also check whether any people came to Tripura recently or after the turmoil in Bangladesh last year,” Dr Saha, who holds the Home portfolio, told the media.

On March 11, 2024, the Centre notified the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules 2024, thus paving the way for enforcing the CAA, which seeks to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians who came to India from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan before December 31, 2014.

Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha earlier said that infiltrators from Bangladesh also realized that Tripura is not a safe zone for them, adding that all security agencies are on a high alert to prevent infiltrators from entering India.

“After the trouble began in Bangladesh last year, security forces maintained a close vigil along the border to foil any kind of infiltration bid,” Dr Saha said.

The Chief Minister recently held meetings with the senior security officials of different agencies, including BSF, and requested the officials in the state to maintain close coordination among them to deal with the border-related issues.

Tripura, which has an 856 km border with Bangladesh, is surrounded on three sides by the neighbouring country, making the northeastern state very vulnerable and sensitive to cross-border migration issues and other crimes.

Except for some patches, most of the frontier had been fenced to prevent smuggling, trans-border crimes, and cross-border illegal movements by infiltrators and inimical elements.