West Bengal Orders Holding Centres for Illegal Immigrants

The newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in West Bengal has taken a significant step by directing all district administrations to establish 'holding centres' for illegal immigrants awaiting deportation. The order, issued by the state's Home and Hill Affairs Department on May 23, 2026, instructs district magistrates to create necessary infrastructure to house 'apprehended foreigners' and 'released foreign prisoners' until their deportation or repatriation formalities are completed. This directive formalises the state government's commitment to its 'detect, delete, and deport' policy, a key electoral promise of the BJP, particularly in the context of infiltration and border security in Bengal. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had publicly announced a tougher anti-infiltration framework days before the official order, emphasising the government's resolve to address the issue of illegal immigration. The move aligns with existing guidelines from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which had issued an advisory in May 2025 (or May last year, as some sources specify) detailing the procedures for handling Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingyas found staying illegally in India. The West Bengal government's communication to district authorities specifically refers to these MHA guidelines, underscoring the procedural nature of the directive. Under these central guidelines, suspected illegal entrants can be detained in these holding facilities for up to 30 days. During this period, authorities are tasked with verifying their nationality and documents. The final decision regarding citizenship determination will rest with the concerned District Magistrate or an officer of equivalent rank. The framework also mandates the collection of biometric data of identified infiltrators and uploading this information to a central portal. These individuals will then be handed over to border authorities, such as the Border Security Force (BSF), for repatriation and subsequently blacklisted from re-entering India. Chief Minister Adhikari clarified that individuals eligible for citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA), specifically non-Muslim immigrants (Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians) who arrived from Bangladesh, Pakistan, or Afghanistan before December 31, 2024, to escape religious persecution, would not be subject to these arrests or detentions. He stressed that the state police would detain only those considered 'completely illegal immigrants' not covered by the CAA and hand them directly to the BSF for deportation, bypassing the courts. Copies of the order have been sent to various high-ranking officials, including the Director General of Police, all police commissionerates, Superintendents of Police, and the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) in Kolkata. This wide dissemination indicates a concerted effort to ensure coordinated implementation across the state. Officials have stated that these centres will function as temporary transit facilities, streamlining the process of detention and repatriation in compliance with central norms. This policy initiative marks a significant shift in West Bengal's approach to managing illegal immigration, aligning it more closely with the Union government's broader stance on border security and national citizenship. The establishment of these holding centres is a concrete administrative step towards implementing the BJP's stated policy on infiltration in the state. The move is expected to have considerable implications for individuals identified as illegal immigrants and is a direct outcome of the new government's agenda.

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