Photo credit: Times of India
There is a surge of Bangladeshi immigrants into India.
Hindustan Times reports their movement coincides with heavy rain and dense fog. This makes illegal border crossings easier. It’s a migration fueled by desperation caused by the lack of jobs in Bangladesh. The numbers recently increased due to political instability.
Desperation may have some personal roots sometimes. A woman arrested by the Pydhonie police from a brothel two weeks ago made the journey because she had nothing left in her homeland. She was from Dhaka she told the police and moved to Mumbai illegally after her husband’s death.
Most illegal Bangladeshi migrants build their entire lives in India. They use the first illegal document as a starting point. They get jobs and bring families over, they obtain Indian SIM cards, open bank accounts, acquire ration cards and even driver’s licenses so they can get blue-collar jobs.
The stagnant economy, the death of jobs in Bangladesh and the demand for cheap labour in India are the major causes of border crossing regardless of the risks involved.
The cheapest route is 8,000 rupees and involves wading through alligator-filled marshes and rivers. The more expensive land routes are arduous too, crossing hill ranges across the border. But these are relatively safer.
The most expensive route costs 18,000 rupees to 29,000 rupees and involves the crossing of a fenced border point through buried routes such as tunnels and drainage lines.
The cost of passage typically includes at least one illegal document and a week’s stay at a safe house while the illegal documents are being prepared and delivered.
