GUWAHATI: The Patriotic People's Front, Assam (PPFA) is a regional nationalist forum that has appealed to the Union government to adopt a tough policy in dealing with illegal migrants in India. In a statement, the PPFA urged that there was an urgent need to detect and deport illegal immigrants, especially from Bangladesh, to protect the nation's demographic and resource stability.
Quoting the statistics reported in the Rajya Sabha in 2016, PPFA asserted that over 20 million Bangladesh nationals were staying in India, an increase from the previous 12 million estimated before 2014. It also mentioned its concerns with regard to Rohingya migrants who crossed over the porous border of Bangladesh-India and continued to flood in, thus making things worse.
PPFA reminded the nation that Assam had sounded alarm bells on illegal migration in the 1980s, when Assam was engaged in the Assam Movement, between 1979 and 1985. The statements declared that the issue was not addressed in a proper manner, resulting in a resource crisis for the Assamese community.
The forum also highlighted public dissatisfaction nationwide over illegal migration, which has been indicated by the recent media buzz. It called upon parties, irrespective of their affiliations, to unite and take decisive steps towards identifying and deporting such illegal residents. If deportation is delayed because of international obligations, the PPFA recommended curbing privileges to migrants, such as voting rights, so they would not misuse the system.
The statement concluded with a call to the authorities to act quickly, pointing out that if this does not happen, it will overstrain the nation's resources and disturb social harmony.
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