Illegal migration from Bangladesh has come down by about 25 percent after half of the international border was fenced off, India's border security chief said here Thursday.
India is putting up wire fences along its 4,095-km border with Bangladesh to stop unauthorised movement and transportation of contraband weapons.
"About 50 percent of the border has been fenced up and already we are getting results. Illegal migration has come down by about 25 percent," Border Security Force (BSF) director general Ajai Raj Sharma told a press conference.
He hoped that once the fencing was complete, migration would come down to insignificant levels.
Though there is no official count, it is estimated that 500-700 illegal migrants cross over and stay back in India everyday.
About 30 percent of the porous border is riverine area, which require special monitoring.
"Once the fence is complete, we can re-deploy our personnel to bolster surveillance along the riverine border," Sharma said.
The fencing would be completed in the next two years, Sharma said.
He said in 2003, the BSF had deported 15,000 illegal Bangladeshi entrants into India. "This year till now we have deported 6,000 illegal Bangladeshi nationals."
Earlier in the day, the BSF chief held meetings with national women's commission chairperson Purnima Advani, NGO workers, West Bengal police and government officials to address the issue of trafficking in women from Bangladesh to India.
"The meeting came up with several suggestions to put in place an effective mechanism to stop trafficking (in women)," Sharma said.
Among the suggestions were sensitising BSF personnel to the issue, strengthening intelligence gathering to crack organised rackets, building short stay homes near the border for rescued women and deploying women personnel on the border police stations.
"But, we believe Bangladesh has to take a more pro-active role to ensure that the women don't cross the border in the first place," Sharma said.
Sharma said about 2.5 percent of
India's total number of women sex workers came from Bangladesh.