Bengal: Districts asked to build holding centres for illegal foreigners

West Bengal’s BJP Government has moved to institutionalise its “detect, delete and deport” policy by directing all district administrations to set up “holding centres” for suspected illegal foreigners and foreign prisoners awaiting repatriation — a step that appeared to give administrative shape to one of the party’s most potent political themes in the State.

The order, issued by the State Home and Hill Affairs Department’s Foreigners’ Branch on May 23, asked district magistrates to create the infrastructure required to house “apprehended foreigners” and “released foreign prisoners” until deportation formalities are completed.

Though framed as a procedural exercise aligned with central guidelines, the directive comes days after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari publicly rolled out a tougher anti-infiltration framework and declared that his Government had adopted a “detect, delete and deport” policy — a phrase long embedded in the BJP’s Bengal vocabulary on infiltration and border politics.

The communication referred to an advisory of the Union Home Ministry in May last year laying down procedures for handling Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingyas found staying illegally in India.

“In this connection, it is requested to take initiative/appropriate action for setting up of Holding Centres in the district for apprehended foreigners as well as for the released foreign prisoners awaiting deportation/repatriation,” the order said.

Copies of the communication have been sent to the director general of police, police commissionerates, superintendents of police, and the Foreigners Regional Registration Office in Kolkata.

Officials said the proposed centres would function as temporary transit facilities for those detained on suspicion of illegal stay and for foreign nationals whose deportation processes are underway.

Under central guidelines, suspected illegal entrants can be kept in such facilities for up to 30 days while their nationality and documents are verified. District magistrates or officers of equivalent rank would take the final call on citizenship determination.

The framework also envisages the collection of biometric data, uploading of information to a central portal and eventual transfer of identified illegal immigrants to border authorities for repatriation.

A senior official said the move was intended to ensure district administrations remain “prepared and compliant” with existing procedures.

“The districts have been asked to create the necessary infrastructure so that such cases can be dealt with in a regulated manner till legal formalities are completed,” he said.

Yet, coming against the backdrop of the state’s recent political transition, the order seemed to carry significance beyond its bureaucratic language.

Only days earlier, Adhikari announced that infiltrators detained by State police would be handed over directly to the BSF for deportation instead of being routed through prolonged legal processes.

At a meeting with senior BSF officers where land was handed over for fencing work in stretches along the Bangladesh border, the chief minister had declared that the state’s anti-infiltration agenda had entered the implementation phase.

He said those not covered under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act would be treated as illegal entrants.

“Those who are outside the purview of the CAA are illegal entrants and will be arrested by the state police and handed over to the BSF,” Adhikari had said.

The BSF, according to the mechanism, would coordinate with Border Guards Bangladesh for deportation.

Though Adhikari did not specifically cite the legal framework, officials indicated the mechanism appeared linked to the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, enacted by Parliament last year.

The legislation replaced several earlier laws governing immigration, registration and foreign nationals and created a more technology-driven structure for surveillance, detention and deportation.

The law also granted police officers of head constable rank and above powers to arrest, without warrant, persons suspected of violating immigration requirements.

However, a subsequent exemption order of the Union Government insulated certain minority communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan from prosecution if they entered India before December 31, 2024, citing religious persecution.

Adhikari had repeatedly underlined that distinction.

Seeking to separate refugee protection from illegal immigration, he said communities covered under the CAA would remain outside the ambit of enforcement.

In Bengal’s politics, infiltration has long existed as more than a border issue. For years, it remained one of the BJP’s sharpest electoral themes against previous Governments, often surfacing during campaigns in border districts and refugee-dominated constituencies.

For a state where border politics has often unfolded through slogans and speeches, the latest order suggested that the battleground may now be shifting quietly into Government notifications and district offices.