West Bengal to set up 'holding centres' for illegal foreigners awaiting deportation
The chief minister ordered a crackdown on illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and asked the state police to detain them and hand them over to the BSF for deportation.
India's West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari yesterday (23 May) directed all district magistrates to set up "holding centres" for apprehended illegal immigrants before their deportation, taking forward the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) electoral promise to "detect, delete and deport" all aliens.
The Foreigners' Branch, Saarc Visa Section, of the state home department headed by Adhikari issued an order that said holding centres should be set up following a May 2025 order from the union home ministry.
"Enclosed please find the letter under reference regarding the procedure to be followed for deportation of Bangladeshis/Rohingyas apprehended for staying illegally in this country," said the state's order to district magistrates, a copy of which HT saw.
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"In this connection it is requested to take initiative/appropriate action for setting up holding centres in the district for apprehended foreigners as well as for the released foreign prisoners awaiting deportation/repatriation in accordance with the MHA guideline under reference," the brief order said.
The move comes days after Adhikari made announcements following a meeting with top Border Security Force (BSF) and state police officers where he handed over land for setting up fences over 27km of open stretches of the India-Bangladesh border.
In the 20 May meeting, Adhikari ordered a crackdown on illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and asked the state police to detain them and hand them over to the BSF for deportation.
"On 14 May 2025, the Centre sent a directive to the state to hand over illegal Bangladeshi immigrants to the BSF for deportation. The previous state government not only ignored the directive but also opposed the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)," he said, referring to the new law that grants expedited citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who entered India to escape religious persecution.
"Those not covered under CAA are completely illegal immigrants. The state police will detain them and hand them over to the BSF. The BSF will coordinate with Border Guard Bangladesh and deport them. Detect, Delete and Deport," Adhikari said.
The BJP made infiltration a key issue in the recently held state assembly elections. All leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, launched scathing attacks against the former Mamata Banerjee-administration for not handing over land to the BSF to set up fences.
The Indo-Bangladesh border runs 4,096km, passing through West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. West Bengal shares about 2,216km of this border, the longest stretch between any Indian state and a neighbouring nation.
Before the polls, in which the BJP won 207 of Bengal's 294 seats against the Trinamool Congress (TMC)'s 80, the saffron camp alleged that there are more than a million illegal Bangladeshis and Rohingyas from Myanmar.
Today, the BJP's tally rose to 208 after it swept the Falta by-poll in South 24 Parganas district.
No TMC leader commented on the state home department's order till this afternoon.
In 2025, the detention of Bengali-speaking migrant workers in various BJP-ruled states, based on suspicion of being illegal Bangladeshi immigrants triggered a political row. Then CM Mamata Banerjee alleged that these detentions followed a notification the Centre secretly issued only to those states. Several detainees were deported but legal battles brought them back.
