Three men have been living in the open in no-man’s-land along the Bangladesh-India border in Rowmari upazila, Kurigram, for 13 consecutive days, after members of India’s Border Security Force (BSF) allegedly brought them to the boundary and attempted to push them into Bangladesh in violation of international border law, according to local sources.
Local sources said that in the early hours of 14 June, BSF personnel from the Mankarchar Sonarpar camp brought the three to the no-man’s-land adjacent to border pillar 1066, presenting them as Bangladeshi nationals and attempting to push them across. A patrol from the Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB)’s Hijlamari camp in Rowmari upazila intervened and blocked the entry.
Since then, the three have remained in the no-man’s-land under the watch of security forces from both sides, unable to move freely in either direction.
A reporter who visited the site on Friday morning found the three lying on plastic sheets spread over grass near bushes at the border’s edge, in an area along the bank of the Kali river descending from India. They have been enduring sustained rain, storms and intense heat in the open with no shelter.
The three said they face acute shortages of food, clean drinking water, medical care and sanitation. They said they have grown physically weak from prolonged exposure, and are suffering from fever, coughs and colds and other ailments but cannot access treatment. The close surveillance by border forces on both sides means they cannot move or seek help freely.
Local residents called for an urgent resolution, saying it is not humane to leave people stranded in no-man’s-land in such conditions for days on end. They expressed hope that the relevant authorities on both sides would coordinate quickly to resolve the situation and end the men’s humanitarian crisis.
Neither BGB nor BSF had issued an official statement on the matter at the time of reporting.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report