UPSC Mains 2014 GS Paper 3 Q18: model answer
How does illegal transborder migration pose a threat to India’s security? Discuss the strategies to curb this, bringing out the factors which give impetus to such migration.
What the question wants
Explain how illegal cross-border migration threatens India's security, what drives it, and how to curb it.
How to structure it
Threat, push-pull factors, strategy.
- Scale and areas
- Security threats
- Factors giving impetus
- Strategies
How to think it through
Bangladesh to Assam, WB, Tripura; Myanmar (Rohingya, Chin refugees to Mizoram post 2021); Nepal open border. Threat: demographic change, identity conflicts (Assam Movement 1979-85, Nellie 1983), radicalisation, fake documents, vote bank, crime, trafficking. Factors: poverty, floods, population, persecution, jobs in India, porous riverine border, kinship, agents, corrupt officials. Strategies: fencing, BSF, smart fencing (BOLDQIT Dhubri 2019 riverine), NRC Assam 2019, Foreigners Tribunals, Aadhaar checks, work permit debate, diplomacy with Bangladesh, border haats, development.
Model answer
The Assam Movement (1979–85) began as a protest against the names of migrants from across the border being added to voter lists. It ended with the Assam Accord of 1985, which fixed 24 March 1971 as the cut-off date for detecting foreigners. The issue of illegal cross-border migration has never left the North-East since.
How it threatens security
- Demographic change in border districts, causing identity conflicts and violence, as in Nellie (1983).
- Fake identity documents that also help criminals and terrorists.
- Radical networks like the JMB using migrant settlements for cover.
- Smuggling and trafficking through the same routes.
- Strain on land and jobs, leading to local anger.
Factors that give it impetus
- Poverty, floods and crowding in parts of Bangladesh.
- Persecution, as with the Rohingya and Chin refugees from Myanmar after 2021.
- Jobs in India's construction, farm and domestic work.
- Porous riverine border and shared language and kinship.
- Agents and corrupt officials who sell documents.
Strategies to curb it
- Fencing, floodlights and technology like BOLD-QIT on the Brahmaputra stretch near Dhubri.
- Stronger BSF patrolling and border outposts.
- Reliable identity checks through linked databases.
- Foreigners Tribunals with fair procedure; lessons from the NRC (2019).
- Diplomacy with Bangladesh on readmission and joint patrols.
- Development of border areas on both sides.
- A humane refugee policy for genuine victims of persecution. Migration is driven by hunger and fear;
security policy must be firm at the border and fair inside it.
Draw: A push-pull diagram: Bangladesh/Myanmar push factors on the left, India pull factors on the right, the border in the middle.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
Assam Movement 1979–85, Assam Accord 1985, 24 March 1971, Nellie 1983, demographic change, fake documents, JMB, Rohingya, Chin refugees, BOLD-QIT Dhubri, NRC 2019, Foreigners Tribunals, refugee policy.
Where most answers lose marks
- Discussing only the threat and forgetting the 'factors which give impetus', a full part of the question.
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26 Jul 2026Question text as printed in the official UPSC Civil Services (Main) question paper. The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.
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