'Holding centres' for illegal immigrants in West Bengal districts

KOLKATA: The BJP govt in Bengal has commissioned "holding centres" in all 23 districts for illegal Bangladeshi, Rohingya and other immigrants awaiting deportation, resuming a process stalled by the erstwhile Mamata Banerjee-led TMC govt for a year in defiance of MHA guidelines, report Debashis Konar and Srishti Lakhotia.

The order, issued by the state home department over the weekend to all district magistrates, came 72 hours after CM Suvendu Adhikari told reporters that the govt would adhere to the "detect, delete and deport" principle in all cases of illegal immigration. Each district will have one holding centre where detainees can be housed for up to 30 days.

"Police cannot harass or detain those who have entered India before Dec 31, 2024. Those who are not covered under CAA are illegal immigrants and infiltrators. The state police will detain them and hand them over to the BSF, which will liaise with BDR (Bangladesh Rifles, now known as Border Guard Bangladesh) and deport them," Adhikari said.

TMC govt had defied Centre on immigrant holding centres

The previous Bengal govt had refused to implement the Union home ministry’s guideline, issued May 2, 2025, alleging it was part of a plan by the Centre to strip a section of Indians of citizenship. Trinamool had insinuated that it was an extension of NRC, CAA and eventually SIR.

Former CM Mamata Banerjee had declared nobody in Bengal would be sent to a detention centre so long as her party was in office. Parallels were drawn with “transit camps” in Assam that house detainees identified by NRC tribunals for deportation.

Govt defines holding centres as specialised facilities, distinct from prisons, to house individuals apprehended on suspicion of entering or staying in the country illegally while their nationality is being probed, as well as foreign nationals who have completed prison terms but must remain in custody until deportation or repatriation clearances are obtained.

The NCRB report of 2024 says 905 people were held in Bengal that year under Registration of Foreigners Act, and Foreigners Act. Foreigners made up 9% of Bengal’s prison population of 25,774, according to the previous year’s NCRB report. Bangladeshis constituted the biggest chunk, with 778 convicts and 1,440 undertrials.