Exchange of enclaves starts July 31 midnight

Ending decades of wait, Bangladesh and India will finally start exchanging enclaves from midnight of July 31.

It will take place in line with the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) documents exchanged between the two countries on June 6 during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Dhaka visit.

“India and Bangladesh agree that the Indian enclaves in Bangladesh and Bangladeshi enclaves in India exchanged pursuant to the 1974 agreement and 2011 protocol shall stand transferred to the other with effect from the midnight of July 31, 2015,” said the documents.

It added that the representatives of the two governments shall conduct a joint visit to the enclaves before July 31.

They will inform the enclave residents of the provisions, including their rights relating to nationality and citizenship, contained in the 1974 agreement and 2011 protocol.

The representatives will indentify the residents who wish to continue to retain the nationality they hold prior to the actual transfer of territory.

The documents said, “This right is available only to those residents who are included in the joint headcount of the population finalised and exchanged by the two governments in July 2011.”

They will also collect the data, including photographs, required for issue of entry passes or any other document to facilitate the travel.

The travel of the residents who will exercise the option of moving from an enclave to the mainland of India or Bangladesh, as the case may be, will be arranged by the respective governments through cooperation as mutually agreed, and will take place by November 30, 2015.

The enclave residents exercising the same option shall inform the relevant district administrations before July 31 details of the records and specifications of immovable properties held by them, the documents added.