Indians in Bangladesh

There are hundreds of thousands of Indians in Bangladesh, most of whom are illegal migrants and refugees. According to data produced by the Bangladeshi Ministry of Home Affairs, as many as 500,000 Indians were staying in Bangladesh illegally in 2009. They were found working in different establishments such as NGOs, garments, textile, IT and sent money back home through hundi transfer systems. In 2012,Bangladesh was the fifth among the nations sending highest remittances to India. Indians working in Bangladesh sent more than $3.7 billion back to India in 2012. Most of them came on tourist visas and tended to stay back. The migrant community has often been a source of contention between the two countries; according to available reports, the lakhs of Indians illegally staying in the country hailed from the Indian states of West Bengal, Meghalaya, Assam, Tripura and Mizoram and were spread across numerous urban and rural areas.