SIR sparks reverse migration of ‘illegal Bangladehis’ at Hakimpur border

Kolkata: Beside a pitch road that opens into a narrow, dusty mud bylane at the Hakimpur BSF border outpost in North 24-Parganas, a stretch has become an informal departure corridor for “illegal Bangladeshis”, who lived in the state for years.

Under a sprawling banyan tree, families with small cloth bags, children clutching plastic bottles and men waiting on their haunches formed a silent queue on Saturday, repeating a single plea before BSF personnel: “Let us go home.”

Across the South Bengal border belt, security personnel and local residents say the number of undocumented Bangladeshi nationals attempting to return to their country has risen sharply since early November.

The movement has taken the shape of an unusual reverse migration, which officials and they themselves link directly to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls underway in Bengal.

Shahin Bibi, identifying herself as a resident of Khulna district who worked as a domestic help in New Town near Kolkata, waited with her toddler by the roadside.

“I came because we were poor. I have no proper documents. Now, I want to return to Khulna. That is why I am here,” she said.

“No more staying here,” said a young waiter, who lived in Kolkata for eight years. “If they check old papers, we cannot show anything. Better to leave before they ask questions.”

The concern is echoed across the queue of people who arrived from areas such as New Town, Birati, Dhulagori, Bamangachi, Ghusuri and parts of Howrah’s industrial belt. Border officials confirm the surge.

They say 150-200 people a day are being detained and pushed back after verification. The queues began swelling from November 4, the day the SIR exercise began.