India, B'desh try to retain border enclave dwellers

India and Bangladesh are making efforts to prevent people living in the border enclaves from moving even as elaborate arrangements are being made to relocate and rehabilitate them.

With the motive said to be largely political, sources said that where India is successful in retaining all its enclave dwellers, around 1,000 people from Bangladesh are expected to migrate to India.

According to records available with the Bharat Bangladesh Enclaves Exchange Coordination Committee (BBEECC), of the around 15,000 residents of Bangladeshi enclaves in India all are staying back where as of nearly 40,000 dwellers of Indian enclaves in Bangladesh around 1,000 have decided to move to India.

The BBEECC, which has been leading the movement for formal exchange of enclaves for the last two decades, enumerated the figures based on surveys it ran since 2011. The latest one was conducted between June and July this year.

“Our initial estimate was that around 1,600 people will be coming down from Indian enclaves in Bangladesh, which now stands at around 1,030, give or take a few. As far as residents of Bangladeshi enclaves in India are concerned, we haven’t put pressure on anybody to stay back,” said BBEECC’s chief coordinator Diptiman Sengupta.

Sources, including home ministry officials, however, admitted that while no one was made to stay back under duress, measures were taken to ensure they do not leave the Indian side even after the enclaves are exchanged.

“The home ministry from the time of UPA-II has been working to ensure no one migrates to Bangladesh. The government has been putting pressure on BBEECC, which has become the virtual nodal agency for the exchange process, that no one leaves India,” a senior official admitted.