THE IMPACT OF ILLEGAL MIGRATION ON NATIONAL SECURITY: ANALYZING BORDER SECURITY CHALLENGES IN INDIA

AUTHOR: SHREYAS SANJAY KAMAT, RAMAIAH COLLEGE OF LAW, BENGALURU.

This paper investigates the issue of illegal immigration from Bangladesh to India, emphasizing its impact on national security and social stability. It identifies a substantial number of illegal immigrants and explores various entry methods, including porous borders and fraudulent documentation. The role of social media in facilitating these migrations is also examined. The paper critiques the inadequate responses from Indian authorities and political leaders, assessing their effectiveness in addressing the problem. Additionally, it considers the broader effects on employment, housing, and political processes, as well as the involvement of illegal immigrants in criminal activities. The study concludes with recommendations for strengthening border security and improving immigration control to mitigate these challenges.

Illegal immigration has become a critical issue in India, affecting national security, socio-economic stability, and legal frameworks. The influx of illegal immigrants from neighboring countries, especially Bangladesh, has raised significant concerns about border security, crime rates, and the impact on local resources and political dynamics. This research paper explores legislative provisions, current statistics, and implications of illegal immigration in India. Illegal immigration has emerged as one of the most contentious issues confronting modern India, posing multifaceted challenges to its national security and social harmony. With an estimated 20 million illegal immigrants, a significant number hailing from Bangladesh, the implications of this demographic shift are profound. The Indian government, in its bid to address this escalating crisis, introduced the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). These legislative measures have sparked intense debate, reflecting deep-seated concerns about their impact on India's secular fabric and social stability.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emphasized the importance of addressing this issue, stating, "We will ensure that illegal immigrants are identified and deported. Our commitment is to protect the rights of Indian citizens and maintain national security.

"The porous borders and inadequate surveillance mechanisms have led to a significant influx of illegal migrants. These migrants often obtain fraudulent identification documents, such as ration cards, voter ID cards, and more recently, Aadhaar cards, to access public services and resources meant for Indian citizens."

"Bangladeshi illegal immigrants have managed to obtain voter ID cards and other forms of identification by exploiting corrupt practices and system weaknesses. This enables them to assert citizenship rights and access resources meant for Indian citizens.

"The increase in criminal activities by Bangladeshi nationals in India has been significant. The NCRB data of 2018 reported over 1,200 cases involving these individuals, underscoring the growing security threat posed by illegal immigration from Bangladesh""The Ministry of Home Affairs estimates the number of illegal immigrants in India to be around 20 million, with a substantial portion from Bangladesh. This large influx poses significant challenges to national security, as evidenced by numerous reports from the Border Security Force (BSF) on illegal crossings. In 2019 alone, over 1,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended along the india-Bangladesh border"The Border Security Force (BSF) has reported multiple instances of illegal border crossings. In 2019 alone, over 1,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended along the India-Bangladesh border Unauthorized immigrants crossing the border without security restrictions often claim Indian citizenship and utilize land and resources by obtaining fraudulent identification documents such as Aadhaar cards and voter ID cards.

When it comes to recent activity observed in one of the YouTube videos uploaded by the Bangladeshi Youtuber “ Dilwar Hussain”  He openly stated in the video that “ No visa will be needed, No Passport is needed and I will now enter India” The statement which he made while shooting the vlog and even uploaded the same in YouTube which is very concerning when it comes to border security which has been neglected in specific areas of west Bengal. And in the same vlog, he even gave a practical demo and tried teaching his audience how foreigners can easily enter India illegally.

PROMOTION OF ILLEGAL MIGRATION 

Similarly another YouTuber from Bangladesh named Tahsan Rakub demonstrated and guided his audience to illegally cross the borders by jumping over the fence between Bangladesh and India. Border was very easily doable for the normal human with average height which went viral in recent days on social media . Despite the fact that the video was uploaded a year back and even got 1.1 million views which means more than 11 lakh people have already watched the video, no Indian authority took action against the person even after a year.

In the vlog, Rakub demonstrates that after traversing the fence, they proceeded through a small forest where the presence of Border Security Forces (BSF) was notably absent. This highlights the vulnerabilities in the security of the West Bengal border. Subsequently, they reached a nearby village where the local residents, despite observing their entry from another country, chose to remain silent and indifferent. Rakub and his associates were then able to easily obtain rented motorcycles with Indian registration plates, facilitating their further travels and settlement across India. This situation underscores the ease with which individuals can illegally enter India from Bangladesh.

Social media platforms have increasingly been used by individuals to share information and strategies for illegal migration. Videos demonstrating illegal border crossings can significantly impact border security by providing detailed instructions and encouraging illegal activities. Through these instances, the actual ground reality can be evidently portrayed.

REGIONAL EFFECT OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IN INDIA 

In India, there is a significant lack of response to illegal activities related to migration, exacerbating the issue. For example, videos that promote illegal immigration have not been removed by YouTube India or addressed by government authorities. This inaction highlights the severity of the illegal immigration problem. The situation is further complicated by the potential for large-scale protests from minority groups if the government attempts to enforce stricter regulations through measures like the CAA, often driven by a lack of understanding of the CAA and NRC among the public.

BORDER SIGNIFICANCE ACROSS INDIA

The issue of illegal immigration has extended well beyond West Bengal, affecting states across India, including Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, and several regions in the Northeast. This problem is also evident in Mumbai, the country's financial capital.

 Recently 200 fake Aadhar cards were caught being thrown here and the same is the condition of the country's capital Delhi. When one YouTuber from Varthaman Bharat News channel was asking the people from Shahin Bhag about their nationality surprisingly all had only one common answer “Bangladesh” The area is completely dominated by Bangladeshi immigrants. and that is why today their gangs have increased so much there that they directly threaten the Indian authorities. Using such statements like “Government can't come to Shaheen Bagh even if you want to. Have you heard the name of Shaheen Bagh once? You say Shaheen Bagh and then feel that what Shaheen Bagh is, You need a lot of courage to come here.” The clear hatred mindset can be seen in the statement of the illegal immigrants especially youths who will later turn into extremists for money. A sad fact here is India is becoming the crime capital of the world today. However, according to the official data of NCRB, Bangladeshis have the highest number of crimes by foreigners. They also have the highest number in terrorism. And hardly these reports are discussed among us.  On the contrary, Mamata Banerjee CM of West Bengal said her government would provide shelter to people from violence-hit Bangladesh “If they come knocking on our doors.” The bitter truth is keeping India's national security in mind. I am sorry to say this, but the path that was shown to enter India illegally is not the only path, but there are 100 such paths.

POLITICAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 

There are so many other facts that is to highlight and expose about the illegal immigrants who will be coming from different states and what documents they adopt so that they are not caught and ultimately how after coming to India they change their name and get Indian citizenship, Indian passport, Aadhar card and even caste certificate for reservation and on the basis of which they get reserved government jobs. Forget about jobs, under PM Awas Yojna our government is even building houses for them. Infiltration of Bangladeshi citizens is a big problem in the entire country including Mumbai. When such a picture comes to the fore, the question arises of when strict action will be taken against the infiltrators.

Mamata Banerjee has given this wake of protest in Bangladesh. Doors open in Bengal for refugees coming from Bangladesh. The same Mamata Banerjee resigned from Lok Sabha 13 years ago on the issue of Bangladeshi infiltration. It is a very multi-faced statement just for the sake of a vote is not admissible. Infiltrators coming from Bangladesh are a problem for India.

Actually today the demography there has changed to such an extent that if you look at the women Sarpanch and MLS of many villages of Jharkhand, then the husbands of many women are these illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.What happens there is that the government has reserved some seats for tribal women, so taking advantage of this, these people marry local tribal women, and then when that woman wins the Lok Sabha or Panchayat election, indirectly their illegal immigrant husbands rule that area and dictate the politics there. “What is happening today? Bangladeshi infiltration is increasing continuously here. Bangladeshi infiltrators are marrying tribal women. It is not a question of Hindu and Muslim here. The women who contest Lok Sabha elections from the tribal quota, their husbands are Muslims. Jharkhand MP Nishikant himself is a Muslim.” This was the statement given by Jharkhand MP Nishikant Dubey himself told in the Parliament that the number of illegal migrations is constantly increasing in his state. The same statement was made by Jharkhand's first CM Babulal Marandi. He had even complained to the Election Commission that there are many areas in Jharkhand where the number of fake voters of these immigrants has increased from 20 to 123. Now from 20 to 123, names of voters have been added to the voter list in a fake manner.

Dilwar Hussain and Ahsan Raqab, which was discussed previously, both of them had also entered India through the Meghalaya route. Basically, these illegal immigrants come to India from KarimGanj through the Meghalaya border. Then from there they immediately go to Assam, Tripura, and Nagaland and finally, after reaching Kolkata, they do not stay there forever by using fake documents, but immediately go to Delhi or any South Indian states and get settled there. 

Second route is the Tripura Route which is densely covered by forest so in this area it is easy to infiltrate. In fact, it was just last month that on 12th July, 10 illegal Bangladeshis were arrested and when the police caught them and interrogated them, there are some agents in Mura area who are getting these illegal immigrants directly entered into India from Unakoti district for just Rs. 100 and this filtration is a matter of weeks, such cases keep coming in the news every day. This case was reported on 12th July exactly in the same year, 6 days before that, that is, on 6th July, 25 illegal immigrant Rohingyas from Myanmar were also caught while entering from there from the same route. Now let's forget about the bordering states of Myanmar and Bangladesh, even Jharkhand which is several kilometers away from Bangladesh is not safe, a different game is going on there.

Now the next route of illegal immigration that these people are adopting is the tourist route. The immigration route that these people are adopting is the tourist route. Recently a case was seen of a man named Rafikul who was an illegal Bangladeshi Rohingya immigrant. Rafikul himself accepted that he came to Bengal on a tourist visa but after the visa expired, he started working in India. He also bought an Aadhaar card in two months and today he has become an Indian citizen.

Now the next route of illegal immigration that these people are adopting is the tourist route. The immigration route that these people are adopting is the tourist route. Recently a case was seen of a man named Rafikul who was an illegal Bangladeshi Rohingya immigrant. Rafikul himself accepted that he came to Bengal on a tourist visa but after the visa expired, he started working in India. He also bought an Aadhaar card in two months and today he has become an Indian citizen.

That is why if we look at the trend, the number of people coming from Bangladesh to India on tourist visas is quite high. In the last eight months, 10 lakh Bangladeshis have come to India on a tourist visa and the record of people who have gone out is missing. There are also people who get fake Indian certificates made which change their name. In the case of Minar Sarat who changed his name to Shuvo Das through an agent in West Bengal and became an Indian overnight. Seeing his name, no one would have doubted that he is a Bangladeshi immigrant. Now if we focus on the Nepal route. From here, people are coming to India by playing adventure sports on the Mahakali River which serves as the national border between India and Nepal. These people build ropeways on both sides of the river which are called twins in the local language. Then there was another route coming from Nepal which no one knew about.

In fact, a blogger from the Netherlands discovered it. She said that one day she was traveling from Nepal to India but by mistake she boarded an Indian bus without an immigration stamp on her passport and was stuck for a week. She was in India for the whole time but nobody checked her passport even once. This shows how thoroughly our security forces are checking Nepal. Any foreigner can just barge in and get caught and we Indians are not even aware of this. In fact, a foreigner is coming and telling us but what is happening among these Nepali Muslims, we also have Rohingyas and Bangladeshis. The known routes for illegal entry into India reveal serious weaknesses in border security. These methods are just the ones we know about; there could be many more loopholes that people are exploiting to enter the country in large numbers. This influx is changing India's demographics, impacting politics, and affecting the rights of all Indian citizens, regardless of their religion.

For the average person in India, life is challenging. Securing a job and achieving home ownership can take decades of hard work, with a significant portion of their income going to taxes. In contrast, illegal immigrants sometimes benefit from government programs like the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, which provides housing assistance. There are also reports of illegal immigrants setting up homes in public areas such as roads and railway tracks, and later claiming ownership of these places.

This situation creates a stark difference between the struggles of everyday Indian citizens and the benefits received by illegal immigrants, highlighting how illegal immigration affects the distribution of resources and opportunities in the country.

The similar case discussed happened in Haldwani of Uttarakhand, A court verdict donated railway land to the families of 4000 illegal encroachers and then jobs. Today we say that unemployment is at its peak. Indian youth do not have jobs. Unfortunately, even in government jobs, the seats reserved for SC ST are also being taken by these illegal immigrants by showing their fake caste documents. Now if this is the condition of government jobs, then imagine what is happening in private jobs.

On April 22, it was found out from the illegal immigrants caught in Assam that they were going to Chennai to join a private job. And the biggest concern is that this is a very serious security threat to India.They are involved in spreading terror in India, inciting riots, and also in committing crimes. The number of illegal immigrants is at the top. In 2018, Pune ATS arrested five illegal Bangladeshi immigrants because they were conducting terror operations in India for the terror organization AL-QAEDA.

Recently the National Investigation Agency (NIA) also filed a charge sheet against 10 Bangladeshi immigrants. Because these people were planning a religious war against India by inciting Indian Muslims. In fact, Bangladeshis are among the foreigners who commit the most crimes on Indian soil. Then we can observe every major protest like Delhi's anti-CAA protest, those who were caught for violence were illegal Bangladeshis, they had blocked Shaheen Bagh for 101 days in the name of anti-CAA protest, then take new violence, in that too the majority of those who incited riots were illegal immigrants, apart from this, their name is also mentioned in many crimes like there have been cases of gang rapes, in that too many rapes, we will find many cases of human trafficking of small girls and illegal drug smuggling in which their name comes up again and again, but what action is our country taking on this, the central government and state governments are both busy in their vote bank politics, in fact, BJP had even highlighted this issue in its manifesto, but even after this, no concrete action is being seen on this. And it's not that difficult for a superpower like India to make its country's borders foolproof. 

The only obstacle is probably coming here that the state governments deliberately want to keep this big loophole open. They are calling these migrants here and helping them make fake documents so that they can enter India. and the governments can get their votes by distributing freebies to them. In every city and town of every state, there is at least one leader whose vote bank is dependent on these illegal immigrants. Now if he fills his town with just 5 to 6000 immigrants on his own, his victory in the elections is certain. So the voice should be raised on this issue and not only raising the voice but we also have to contribute a little to this and that is why we have to bring some changes at our level, That is by changing our thinking a little because somewhere we are also a little responsible for the situation.  

A country like India, where today there is a population of 140 crores, but even today lakhs of people are forced to stay in the country? We are not getting two meals a day. 15% of the educated youth of our country are unemployed. Out of a population of 140 crores, only 2% people pay taxes and the infrastructure that is built with that money is in such a bad condition. Every other day, reports are coming that there is a shortage of water in cities. Electricity is available only for two hours a day. If a person wants to get treatment in government hospitals, there is such a long queue that the patient dies before his turn comes. 

 So the Indians should think about whether we can afford to bear the burden of another country. Indians should always have the first right on all the resources of India, But we must have seen this many times because immigrants are often ready to work for less money and that is why we too in the greed of saving some money, do not hire any local of India but to them. And we Indians are the ones helping them to enter India. Some of us, in the greed of earning some money, get fake Aadhaar and reservation certificates made for them and get them jobs at home. That means that Indians don’t have a responsibility towards their own country just for ₹1000, people are selling their country. But it's not like no person from any other country is welcome in India or that most of the Bangladeshis and Rohingyas of Myanmar are Muslim minorities. So the ideology should not go against immigrants.

One of the most important qualities imbibed in the Indian culture is to always welcome our guests wholeheartedly and the people of India abide by this culture. It is one of the most prominent qualities of our country. 

As the  Sanskrit phrase says “Atithi Devo Bhava” translates literally to “The guest is equivalent to God” Every foreigner, whether he is Nepali, Bangladeshi, or even Pakistani, is welcome if he comes to India by following the legal system. But if a person is coming illegally, not respecting the constitution of the country, snatching the rights of the people of this country, and conspiring against the country that is sheltering the citizens, inciting riots in the country and spreading terror then its a duty of every Indian, whether he is a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, irrespective of what the person's ideology is or what his religion is, ultimately these illegal immigrants are using those resources of India and snatching the opportunities that belong the citizens of India. 

It is high time that each and every citizen of India must unite to raise their voice and spread awareness against this issue at hand which has been slowly poisoning the democracy of our nation.

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