- The BJP government claims a measure to target illegal migrants.
- Critics say the measure reflects a tough stance on immigration.
- The order sparks fear among minorities of arbitrary expulsions.
India’s ruling Hindu nationalist party has ordered detention centers for undocumented Bangladeshis and Rohingya in West Bengal state, sparking fears among minorities that it could lead to arbitrary deportations.
The directive comes just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won power in the eastern state for the first time since the country’s independence in 1947.
The order calls on local authorities to create “detention centers” for “apprehended aliens” awaiting deportation, as part of a broader crackdown on illegal immigration.
The government has defended its principle of “detect, delete, expel”, affirming that the people targeted are migrants staying illegally in the country.
“Illegal migration has security and socio-economic consequences that often go well beyond law enforcement,” reads the order published last week.
The move has fueled concern among West Bengal’s estimated 35 million Muslims, many of whom share linguistic and cultural ties with neighboring Bangladesh.
Critics say the move reflects the government’s long-standing hardline stance on immigration, with senior BJP members in the past calling Bangladeshi migrants “termites” and “infiltrators”.
The party pursued similar policies in the neighboring state of Assam, where it oversaw extensive identification campaigns and large-scale detentions.
Human rights activists say hundreds of people have been deported from Assam to Bangladesh without due process, often on the basis of ethnic profiling.
Many of them were allegedly pushed across the border at gunpoint, according to activists and lawyers who have challenged the measures in court.
They argue that these policies disproportionately impact the Muslim population by conflating religious identity with illegal migration.
The planned centers in West Bengal have sparked particular concern because of the state’s porous border with Bangladesh and its long migration history.
The inclusion of Rohingya refugees in the order has also drawn criticism.
India has previously been accused by humanitarian groups of forcibly returning Rohingya to Myanmar, despite that country’s ongoing conflict, in potential violation of international refugee protection standards.
Adding to Muslim unease, the BJP-led Assam government on Monday introduced a law to amend personal religious laws, which critics say could further marginalize minorities.
