Our Bureau
Kolkata
The BJP-led West Bengal government has commissioned holding centres in all 23 districts to house suspected illegal Bangladeshi, Rohingya, and other foreign nationals awaiting deportation, marking a resumption of a process stalled for a year by the former TMC administration.
A directive issued on May 23 by the state Home and Hill Affairs Department’s Foreigners’ Branch instructed district magistrates to establish the required infrastructure immediately. Each district will operate one holding centre where detainees can be housed for up to 30 days while nationality verification and repatriation procedures are completed.
The centres will accommodate “apprehended foreigners” recently detained on suspicion of infiltration, as well as foreign prisoners released from jails within the state whose deportation is underway. The order aligns with a Union Home Ministry advisory from May 2025 outlining procedures for dealing with Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingyas residing illegally in India.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced the move 72 hours prior, stating the government would adhere to the “detect, delete and deport” principle for all illegal immigration cases. “Police cannot harass or detain those who have entered India before December 31, 2024,” Adhikari said. “Those not covered under the CAA are illegal immigrants and infiltrators. The state police will detain them and hand them over to the BSF, which will liaise with Bangladesh Rifles (now Border Guard Bangladesh) and deport them”.
Under central guidelines, district magistrates or officers of equivalent rank hold final authority on citizenship determinations. The repatriation process applies whether individuals are Bangladeshi or Rohingya nationals apprehended while residing illegally in the state.
