Introduction
Just three days after forming first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in West Bengal, the newly elected Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari directed all 23 districts of the state to establish ‘Holding Centres’ to detain illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and foreign prisoners awaiting repatriation. Pursuing ‘detect, delete and deport policy’, the newly elected chief minister announced that anyone who is not covered under Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) would be considered as illegal migrant and be deported. Since the Supreme Court of India has already announced that illegal migrants do not have any rights under Indian Constitution, the state government also announced that it would not produce anyone before the court before deporting them and all illegal migrants would be directly handed over to BSF for deportation instead of waiting for long legal procedures.[1]
Earlier, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had also issued guidelines in May 2025, directing all state governments and Union Territories administration to establish holding centres for detection and deportation of illegal migrants. The Centre also set the deadline of thirty days for a credential report to be sent to the deporting state and if no report is received within 30 days period, those held should be deported. [2]
