Illegal transborder migration poses a significant threat to India’s security, presenting multifaceted challenges ranging from socio-economic disruptions to potential security risks. This phenomenon involves the unauthorized movement of individuals across international borders, often driven by a myriad of push and pull factors such as poverty, political instability, conflict, and lack of economic opportunities. India, with its extensive borders and diverse socio-economic landscape, grapples with the repercussions of this migration, which include strain on resources, cultural tensions, and potential infiltration by criminal elements or terrorists. Moreover, the porous nature of certain border regions makes it challenging to monitor and regulate the flow of migrants effectively, exacerbating security concerns. To address this issue, various strategies need to be implemented, including enhancing border surveillance and security infrastructure, strengthening diplomatic ties with neighboring countries to address root causes of migration, and improving socio-economic conditions in vulnerable regions to discourage illegal movement. Additionally, cooperation with international organizations and neighboring countries is crucial to combat cross-border trafficking networks and enhance information-sharing mechanisms. By addressing the underlying factors driving illegal transborder migration and implementing comprehensive strategies, India can mitigate security threats and promote regional stability and prosperity.
Tag: Security challenges and their management in border areas- linkages with organized crime with terrorism. Various security forces and agencies and their mandate.
Decoding the Question:
- In the intro try to write about India’s transborder migration.
- In Body,
- Discuss how transborder migration is a threat to India’s internal security.
- Discuss the factors which lead to illegal migration and suggest measures to counter illegal migrations.
- Try to conclude, with suggestions to need to be taken
Answer:
Illegal migration refers to the migration of people across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country. India has been witnessing immigration since independence. People who have faced religious and political persecution, economic and social discrimination, cultural repression and curbs on personal freedom have made India their home. Of all kinds of migration, illegal migration has become the most volatile and contentious issue in Indian polity today because of the socio-political conflicts it has brought in its wake.
Illegal Transborder Migration, a threat to national security:
- Communal violence: Illegal migration from Bangladesh resulted in communal violence in Assam. For example, bloody communal violence in Kokrajhar is an example. Communal violence may be a threat to national security.
- Disturbance to law and order: The rule of law and integrity of the country come in danger as illegal migrants engage in illegal migrants and anti- national activities. Illegal activities such as fraudulent identity cards, documents etc. which are again serious challenges to prove illegal immigrants.
- Rise of Militancy: persistence attacks against Muslim communities as illegal migrants have given way to radicalisation among certain sections of Muslim community in Assam.
- Changing demographics: Illegal migrants are the main reason behind changing demographics is Various north-eastern states. This changing demographic is the main reason behind rising tension between indigenous communities and migrants.
- Arms smuggling: illegal migration creates ways to smuggle arms in the country. This illegal smuggling is supposed to give support to militants and other extremist groups. For example, illegal migration and arms smuggling on the Myanmar border and in J&K.
- Stress on law and order: In India most of the illegal migrants settle within big and metro cities. Rising crimes, law, and order issues, illegal occupations like prostitution etc.
Factors which give impetus to illegal immigration:
- Political Factors: Political factors have been one of the major reasons in forcing the Bangladeshi and Pakistani Hindus out of the country and into India. Besides riots and war, discriminatory land laws were another region for immigration. At the same time, availability of land, better economic opportunities, education and health facilities and a similar cultural landscape have attracted these migrants to settle in India.
- Religious Discrimination: In Bangladesh, the already discriminatory land laws were further manipulated by vested interest groups and corrupt administrators to dispossess and alienate the Hindus from their own land and property. Religion has a particular effect in the case of the Rohingya Crisis.
- Growing Population: Growing population creates greater demands on resources such as land, food, energy, water and forest products, and their consequent overuse results in deterioration of quality. This process, in turn, encourages inequality in resource distribution among the rich and poor as the rich corner them and deny the poor their share.
- Stagnant Economic Growth and Lack of Employment: Industrialisation in India’s neighbouring countries has not been able to keep pace with the growing labour force and as a result, the unemployment rate is declining. The working-age people who are unable to find jobs in the country look outside for employment opportunities.
- Porous Borders: India shares a long and porous international border with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. The border traverses a range of natural and cultural landscapes, which pose a challenge to its effective management.
Strategies to curb illegal immigration:
- Tighter Border Controls: The first step towards addressing the issue of illegal migration is not to allow persons to cross the international border without authorisation. For this purpose, border controls need to be made tighter to deter aliens from illegally crossing the borders.
- Strengthening Border Surveillance: Despite experiencing continuous illegal migration, India’s border had remained poorly guarded. While some efforts for strengthening border controls along the border were envisaged, no concrete steps were taken to secure the border against illegal migration. Augmenting the presence of the BSF along the border to effectively man the border is an important step towards better border surveillance.
- Border Fencing: Border fencing as a potential tool to prevent illegal migration. The international border shall be made secure against future infiltration by erection of physical barriers like barbed wire fencing and other obstacles at appropriate places. Further roads should be constructed to facilitate patrolling by the security forces and all effective measures should be undertaken to prevent infiltrators crossing or attempting to cross the international border.
Hence, for effective border management India needs to work on a comprehensive national policy for effective border management. This policy should be made by national security experts and it should bring solutions for every border region of the country. Need of cooperation from countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar etc for prohibition of illegal migration.
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