Forty-four-year-old Mamodulah and his family took shelter in the Matia Rohingya Refugee Camp in the Indian state of Assam, fleeing atrocities in Myanmar’s junta-controlled Rakhine State two years ago.

Each member of the family - Mamodulah, his wife Romana, 35, and their children Tahmina Akhter, 20, Redwan, 15, and Tasmina, 13 - holds refugee cards issued by the New Delhi office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

On 7 May, the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) blindfolded them, transported them in a motor vehicle, and pushed them into Bangladesh through Charbhurangamari in Kurigram, according to Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).

The five Rohingyas are among 340 Muslims who were pushed in from Assam, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh into Bangladesh through the border areas of Khagrachhari, Moulvibazar, Kurigram, and Satkhira between 7 and 14 May.

Several of those pushed in have reportedly been identified as Indian nationals, with intelligence sources indicating that hundreds of Muslims were isolated in various parts of India to be forcibly sent across the border.

Human rights and security experts say the Indian actions violate the 1975 Joint India-Bangladesh Guidelines for Border Authorities, the Coordinated Border Management Plan (CBMP) of 2011, and agreements reached during director general-level meetings between the BGB and Border Security Force of India.

Colonel (retd) Mohammad Abdul Hoque, chairman of the Retired Armed Forces Officers’ Welfare Association, Bangladesh (RAOWA), told the Daily Sun that the push-ins are a demonstration of hostility towards Muslims.

“People are being pushed in because of their Muslim identity. No international or domestic law allows such actions,” he said.

Crime analyst and Dhaka University academic Dr Md Tawohidul Haque said the illegitimate Indian move to push in people poses a security risk to Bangladesh. “This aims to create a fresh unwarranted situation in the region,” he warned.

Security analyst Major (retd) Emdadul Islam said a humanitarian disaster is being orchestrated.

Former diplomat Munshi Foyez stated that such push-ins will obstruct efforts to develop relations between Bangladesh and India.

Migration expert Asif Munier remarked that both push-ins and push-outs constitute violations of human rights.

BGB Director General Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui described the recent incidents as well-planned, despicable and in violation of human rights.

Meanwhile, the BGB has lodged both verbal and written protests with the BSF over the push-in incidents, citing disregard for legal procedures, according to BGB public relations officer Shariful Islam.

The BGB has also increased intelligence surveillance and border patrols, he added.