‘Detect, deport, delete’: How Bengal’s new policy is changing India-Bangladesh migration flow

For decades, the flow of people along the India-Bangladesh border was largely in one direction. Undocumented migrants crossed into West Bengal seeking work, security and better opportunities. Today, that movement is being reversed.

Hundreds of Bangladeshi nationals are making their way back to their country through the Hakimpur check post in North 24 Parganas district as the Suvendu Adhikari-led BJP government has intensified its campaign against illegal immigration. The government has bolstered the drive with detention centres, deportations and an ambitious border-fencing programme, arguing that illegal immigration poses a serious challenge to national security and governance.

Many migrants who had hoped to weather the Special Intensive Revision exercise now believe their time in India has come to an end. Masuda Begum was among those who believed she could build a life in India. That confidence proved short-lived. “I came after SIR started as I was told there was no problem. But now the government has passed a law and we have to follow that,” said Begum, as she prepared to return to Bangladesh.

Taslima Khatoon, another Bangladeshi national, too, has resigned herself to leaving. Working as a domestic help, she said she was aware that the new government would take a stricter approach to illegal immigration. “That is why I am going back to my country,” she said, adding that enforcement had not been as stringent during the years of Left Front and Trinamool Congress rule.

The new government's approach was summed up by Adhikari in three words: “Detect, deport, delete.” Speaking on the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, while handing over 27km of land to the Border Security Force for fencing on May 20, Adhikari announced plans to establish detention centres, particularly in districts bordering Bangladesh.

The first two detention centres were established during the last week of May in Malda and Murshidabad districts. On May 30, 17 Bangladeshi nationals held at the Lalgola detention centre in Murshidabad were deported through the Raninagar border point. Nine Bangladeshi nationals remain at the facility. A third holding centre has since been opened at Bhagwangola, also in Murshidabad district.

Police bring suspected Bangladeshi nationals to these centres, where their identities and documents are verified before they are temporarily housed and then repatriated to Bangladesh. The centres operate under guidelines issued by the ministry of home affairs. The norms require facilities to maintain living standards consistent with human dignity and provide basic amenities.

The West Bengal government appears determined to avoid prolonged detention. Unlike in Assam, where suspected foreigners may be required to appear before Foreigners Tribunals during the National Register of Citizens process, the West Bengal government says Bangladeshi nationals identified in the state are being returned without lengthy legal proceedings or extended confinement.

The government has also constituted a special task force to identify and deport undocumented migrants, particularly Rohingyas and Bangladeshi nationals. “We have already told the police not to send them to jail. There is no point spending money on their food and medicines,” Adhikari said.

At the Hakimpur check post, the human consequences of the crackdown are visible every day. Mominur sits with his wife and son, waiting for the formalities that will send them back across the border. He plans to go back to farming in Bangladesh. “I have come from Mullickpur (Kolkata). I am going back because it is becoming a problem,” he said. The family remains uncertain about what awaits them in their country.

Rohina Noor, who worked as a domestic worker in Kolkata, also delayed her departure in the hope that circumstances would improve. “I could not go during SIR as I had a foot ailment. I am going back now, as they won't let me stay,” she said. Noor said she had not heard of detention centres but local police had advised her to return voluntarily before enforcement measures intensified.

The process at Hakimpur is closely monitored. Government officials verify documents and record the names of Bangladeshi nationals waiting to return. The migrants are then transported by bus under BSF supervision for roughly a kilometre to the Bithari-Hakimpur border point, which connects directly to the market area of Bibir Hat in Bangladesh's Swarupnagar region. From there, responsibility passes to the Border Guard Bangladesh.

Detention centres were virtually unheard of in West Bengal until recently, despite the Foreigners Act having existed since 1946. The BJP has accused previous governments, particularly the Trinamool Congress administration, of taking a lenient approach towards illegal immigration. It has repeatedly alleged that the Mamata Banerjee government failed to fully implement the Union government’s May 2025 directive on deporting undocumented Bangladeshis. It has also criticised the former administration for delays in providing land required for border-fencing projects.

For years, undocumented migrants crossed into India through porous stretches of the border, aided by middlemen and drawn by the promise of work. Many built lives in West Bengal as domestic workers, labourers, factory hands and farm workers, often remaining invisible to the authorities.

That world is rapidly disappearing. The middlemen have retreated from view, employers are increasingly reluctant to hire undocumented workers and large stretches of the border are being sealed with fencing. The Adhikari government has pledged to complete nearly 600km of pending border fencing within 45 days of taking office, presenting it as a decisive step towards ending illegal immigration.

For the BJP, the crackdown represents the fulfilment of a key electoral promise. For the migrants waiting at Hakimpur, however, it represents the closing of a chapter they once believed would never end.