West Bengal orders holding centres for Bangladeshis, Rohingyas

The West Bengal government has directed all districts to set up 'holding centres' to detain suspected Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingya immigrants for up to 30 days pending citizenship verification and deportation. The order, issued by Nabanna, follows Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari's recent announcement to strictly enforce central guidelines on illegal immigration.

The directive covers newly detained suspects and foreign nationals released from prisons whose deportation is underway. Instructions have gone to the Director General of Police, district magistrates, and police commissioners, including Kolkata. The move aligns with a May 2, 2025, Union Home Ministry advisory allowing detention for 30 days during document verification.

The state said identified illegal immigrants will have biometric data uploaded to a central portal before being handed to the Border Security Force for deportation and blacklisted from re-entering India. The BJP-led government calls this a 'detect, delete and deport' policy. District-level special task forces will be formed to identify suspected undocumented migrants.