Appeal for humanity towards Bangladeshi minors living in detention on Indian soil

Balurghat: A team of delegates from Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner-led by the minister (political) and head of chancery B M Jamal Hussein reached Balurghat and inspected a local juvenile home on Friday where Bangladeshi minors are living in safe custody on charges of infiltration.

According to an official source, Hussein and consular assistant of Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner Choudhury Ataus Salam reached Subhayan Home in the morning with District Magistrate of South Dinajpur Nikhil Nirmal, additional district magistrate (LR/social welfare) Pranab Kumar Ghosh along with other high-ranked officials to oversee the overall condition of the home where the minors have been residing for over years after being detained by the security personnel and BSF for intrusion.

Hussein has asked the administrative officials to evolve a soft and humane policy to deal with the juveniles crossing the India-Bangladesh border in recent times.

Hussein told the reporters said: "On charges of infiltration, a few Bangladeshi minors were detained from the adjacent areas of India-Bangladesh border and kept in a Balurghat-based juvenile home. It is quite common for the minors in Bangladesh to run away from their home and illegally cross over the international border. Both the countries should adopt a soft and humane approach to deal with such cases."

Notably, top ranked administrative officials after a discussion conducted recently have taken initiative for their early release. A few of them will return Bangladesh on October 24 while the rest of others will be release accordingly afterwards.

Calling for early return of minors, District Magistrate Nikhil Nirmal said both the countries should take a principled stand to pushback all juveniles of other countries without any delay.

"The early return of the minors after completing the necessary procedure would serve as a goodwill gesture and become a milestone for warm India-Bangladesh bilateral relationship. Some of the minors have failed to say their whereabouts in Bangladesh and that is why it is tough for their returns. We have requested the Bangladesh delegates to inform us about their details so that they can meet their families there," Nirmal said.

According to a source, Subhayan Home has been running by a non-profitable organisation for more than few years. At present, 19 minors are residing there.

"We are satisfied visiting the home. The Home authority along with the top ranked officials of the district cooperated during visit," Hussein said.