India wants nationality verification agreement with Bangladesh

India has offered to sign with Bangladesh an agreement to ease the repatriation process of individuals arrested on charges of illegal entry in either country back to their respective home countries.

An inter-ministerial meeting has been convened for 12 September by the Security Services Division of the Home Ministry to decide on the proposal. 

The division's Additional Secretary Md Saiful Islam will chair the meeting. However, he declined to comment on the matter before the meeting.

India has also proposed establishing authorities in both countries to expedite citizenship verification within one to three months, according to sources. 

A senior home ministry official said Dhaka is positive about the proposal, highlighting the significance of this agreement due to the high number of Bangladeshi prisoners in Indian jails.

There are about 3,000 Bangladeshi prisoners in jails in different states of India, according to data from the neighbouring country's National Crime Records Bureau. 

However, the actual figure is significantly higher, according to experts.

A source at the Security Services Division explained that many Bangladeshis enter India without proper documents. This occurs when individuals go to India due to connections or relatives, and some unintentionally cross the border, particularly fishermen at sea. 

These fishermen, unaware of the territorial waters, may inadvertently enter Indian waters and are subsequently apprehended by the Indian Coast Guard. 

The process of their return home can take several months.

Besides, Bangladeshis rank as the second-largest group of foreign tourists in India. Around 12.56 lakh Bangladeshi tourists visited the country in 2022, according to India's Ministry of Tourism. 

Similarly, many people from India enter Bangladesh illegally. 

According to data from the Prisons Directorate, Bangladesh currently has around 600 foreign nationals, including over 150 Indians, in detention.

Current repatriation process

There is currently no mechanism to quickly verify facts when illegal entrants claim that they are citizens of Bangladesh or India after their arrest.

On completing their prison sentences, confirming their citizenship is essential for repatriation, as no country can extradite someone to another country without verifying his or her citizenship status.

Therefore, citizenship is verified as per the demand of those persons while in jail. 

To confirm citizenship, a letter is sent to the embassy of the country the detainee claims to be a citizen of. The embassy then forwards it to the foreign ministry. The foreign ministry, in turn, sends it to the home ministry. The home ministry verifies the claim with the deputy commissioner and local administration, providing a citizenship verification report.

The whole process takes at least six months.

Deal with Qatar, Brunei, Mauritius

Meanwhile, Brunei and Mauritius have proposed a Transfer of Sentenced Prisoners agreement with Bangladesh, which is now under review.

Earlier, Qatar proposed a prisoner exchange deal. Bangladesh reviewed Qatar's proposal and sent its feedback last month. Nothing has been reported from Qatar yet.

The agreement enables prisoners serving sentences in a foreign country to serve their time in their home country's prisons.

For example, if a Bangladeshi citizen commits a crime in Brunei or Mauritius and receives a two-year prison sentence, this agreement allows him or her to serve those two years in a Bangladeshi prison. 

The convicted person will be released once Brunei or Mauritius declares the sentence completed, or the family of the person can apply to have him or her transferred back to the home country's jail.

Home ministry officials said the countries in question have proposed the agreement because many expatriate Bangladeshis are serving time in Qatar, Brunei and Mauritius.

However, Bangladesh is cautious about this as neither side is excited about needlessly repatriating criminals, they said.

Bangladesh has such an agreement with India, under which some are serving jail time in Bangladesh after being sentenced in India.