PUCL Bulletin,
April 2003
Amnesty International,
14 February 2003
India/Bangladesh:
"Push in-push out" practices at the border not acceptable
Amnesty International is gravely concerned with recent reports about incidents
on the Indian-Bangladeshi border in which groups of people whose nationality
is disputed have reportedly been subject to "push-in" and "push-out"
attempts by security forces on both sides in the past few weeks.
The organization considers that such collective expulsions by India and
Bangladesh across the border without offering recourse to judicial remedy
or appeal to the persons being expelled appear to be arbitrary and to
deny them their fundamental human rights.
Amnesty International urges both governments - which meet today in Delhi
to discuss bilateral relations, including the issue of tensions at the
border over migration - to immediately halt the practice of "push-ins"
and "push-outs".
The organization is calling on both governments to ensure that the human
rights of these and other affected people form a central part of the bilateral
talks and reminds that safeguards to which they are entitled should be
upheld.
These safeguards include,
regardless of their nationality and legal status, to ensure that affected
people are not subject to arbitrary arrest and detention (there should
be no arrest in absence of recognizably criminal offences); to refrain
from mass expulsion of people from each state's territory; to ensure that
a person whose expulsion from a territory is being contemplated is provided
at the earliest instance with full information and adequate and competent
legal representation, and is able to effectively and individually appeal
any decision taken by the state; to ensure that any person whose nationality
is in dispute has full access to an independent and accountable body with
the competence to establish their legal status; to ensure prompt access
to judicial safeguards and redress against any violation of the rights
of persons affected by the dispute; to ensure that border guards do not
use excessive force and that independent investigations are carried out
into any use of excessive force and those responsible for such abuses
are brought to justice; to ensure that they are protected from mob attacks;
to ensure that detainees have access to adequate food, shelter and medical
facilities; to ensure that sufficient and particular attention is given
to the protection and humanitarian assistance needs of women, children,
the elderly, and other vulnerable group.