Fact Check: Video showing people crossing barbed wire at borders is not recent, Rohingyas from Bangladesh entered WB during Milan Mela in 2015

Rohingyas are one of the largest stateless populations in the world. Most of the Rohingyas are living in India without valid documents. They are residing mostly in slum areas without safe drinking water and proper toilets. Their children are deprived of proper education as they lack Aadhaar card. Despite lacking basic amenities, Rohingyas still enter India seeking shelter.

In such circumstances, a 30-second visual is being widely shared on social media with a caption: “Bangladeshi Rohingya iIlegal inter West Bengal India, Rohingyas”.

Fact Check: The claim is false. This is not a recent video. On searching with the help of Google Reverse Image search, we found this video has been on the internet since 2015.

Biswajit Sarkar uploaded the same video on his YouTube channel 8 years ago, with a caption in Bengali language reading: “উক্ত ভিডিও তে যারা বর্ডার পার হয়ে বাংলাদেশ থেকে ইন্ডিয়াতে আসছে তারা ভাটিয়া মুসলিম, কাজের সূত্রে ভারতে আসে। আর ভারতের বিভিন্ন রাজ্যে কাজের জন্যে যায়। এর মধ্যে অনেক এ পার্মানেন্ট ভারতেই থেকে যায়। উক্ত মিলন মেলায় প্রচুর লোকের সমাগম এবং বিস্তৃন্ন এলাকা নিয়ে হওয়ার কারণে বিএসএফ এর চোখে ধুলো দিয়ে এরা ভারতে প্রবেশ করছে। “

“Illegal Entry Into India From Bangladesh At Milan Mela In Uttar Dinajpur, West Bengal’. 15/04/2015, at/Vill- Nargun, PS- Goal Pokher, Dist - Uttar Dinajpur, West Bengal, India“ he said in the post. 

When translated to English, it read: "These are Bhatia Muslims who are crossing the border from Bangladesh to India in search of livelihood. They had settled in different states in the country. Being a large group, they are tactfully entering India.”

In the video he also mentioned that “India Bangladesh Milon Mela 15 April 2018 Chaulhati bhanga Mali border “.

On further investigation, we found Ami Bangali, a social media user, posted a video which shows similar places like that in the viral post. In the video, he also mentioned that “India Bangladesh Milon Mela 15 April 2018 chaulhati bhanga Mali border.“ .

When we searched with the caption ‘India Bangladesh Milan Mela’, we found its Milan Mela or the annual fair where Indians and Bangladeshis meet to exchange gifts on Chaitra Sankranti. This festival was not held for the last four years.

The last month of Bengali calendar is Chaitra and on the auspicious day of Chaitra Sankranti, people from Bangladesh & also from India gather on both sides of the barbed wire fencing & meet their friends & relatives. They also exchange gifts.

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The video is not recent and dates back to Milan Mela held in 2015.

Hence, the claim is misleading