Bangladesh‍‍`s illegal immigrants are mostly garment workers, says Assam‍‍`s Chief Minister

Himanta Biswa Sarma, the Chief Minister of Assam, has pointed out that many of the illegal immigrants crossing into India from Bangladesh are garment industry workers. 

This information was reported by BBC Bangla.

Previously, the Border Security Force (BSF) informed BBC that most of these immigrants are Muslim, not Hindu. 

Now, the Assam Chief Minister has echoed the same view, as reported by PTI.

During a recent interaction with journalists on Wednesday, Mr. Biswa Sarma addressed this issue, and Indian media has widely reported on it.

According to him, Bangladesh’s current economic problems have led to an increase in illegal immigration.

"Once instability hit Bangladesh, their economy started to crumble. Naturally, the majority community in Bangladesh was affected more than the minorities. Most of the garment workers belong to the majority community. That’s why we are seeing a rise in immigration, and most of these immigrants are from Bangladesh’s majority community, whom we consider minorities in India."

The Chief Minister also stated that certain Indian garment factory owners are playing a role in this by illegally bringing in cheap labor. 

He said, "The owners of many garment factories in our country are illegally paying them a good amount of money to import cheap labor."

Himanta Biswa Sarma went on to claim that even though Bangladesh’s minorities are facing “widespread persecution,” they are not trying to flee to India, saying, "they are patriotic."

"In the last five months, we haven’t seen a single Bangladeshi Hindu come to Assam," the Chief Minister was heard saying in a video of the conversation.

He concluded his remarks by saying, "We should not encourage them to come to India either."

This growing issue of immigration has drawn attention from various sectors, with questions arising about the economic impact and how both India and Bangladesh might address the situation.