by Bhupen Goswami

Guwahati : At a time when the issue of illegal immigrants in Assam is in focus in India, the Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has said her country will take back all Bangladeshi nationals living illegally in India. However, this will happen only if India successfully proves that the illegal immigrants are Bangladeshi nationals.The PM Hasina said this during a session at Dhaka today.The final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) excluded more than 40 lakh people. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s president cum Union Home Minister of India Amit Shah recently called illegal immigrants “termites” who need to be “weeded out” from India.When Reporter asked about Dhaka’s view on these developments Bangladesh PM said most people in Bangladesh see the issue of illegal immigrants in Assam as India’s internal issue. “Even the media has not taken it up prominently,” Sheikh Hasina said that in the past 10 years, the Indian government has never taken up the issue of illegal immigrants with Bangladesh.

“The process of identifying illegal immigrants has just started. It is a long step process and there may come a time in the distant future when the two countries will talk about it. We are mature countries and have friendly relations, we will work it out when time comes,During the Publice session Hasina also spoke about the challenges posed by the Rohingya refugee crisis. She said though Bangladesh is sheltering more than 1 million Rohingya refugees, the international community needs to come together to find a solution to the humanitarian crisis. He explained that what distinguishes the Rohingya crisis from the issue of illegal immigration is that Rohingya have been persecuted and expelled from Myanmar due to ethnic cleansing.

“This is deplorable. What Myanmar is doing to the Rohingya is genocide,” She said.”Bangladesh is providing all possible aid but has also documented every Rohingya who has taken refuge in the country. When the situation improves in Myanmar and it is time for their deportation, Myanmar will have to honour this.Bangladesh PM “said that sheltering Rohingya refugees is not Bangladesh’s responsibility alone. She said the crisis is a global problem and all countries must contribute. The international community needs to exert pressure on Myanmar to stop this persecution and make situation conducive for their return.”We will not push them [Rohingya] back to Myanmar. They will return voluntarily when conditions are conducive in Myanmar,” She said.