- The BJP government claims it is taking measures aimed at targeting illegal immigrants.
- Critics say the move reflects a hardline stance on immigration.
- The order generates 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, raising fears among minorities that it could lead to arbitrary expulsions.
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 establish “detention centers” for “detained aliens” awaiting deportation, as part of a broader crackdown on illegal immigration.
The government has defended its “detect, remove and deport” principle, saying the targets are immigrants who are in the country illegally.
“Illegal migration has socioeconomic and security ramifications that often go far beyond law enforcement,” reads the order issued last week.
The decision has fueled anxiety 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 hardline stance on immigration, with senior BJP members referring to Bangladeshi migrants as “termites” and “infiltrators” in the past.
The party has pursued similar policies in the neighboring state of Assam, where it has overseen extensive identification campaigns and large-scale arrests.
Human rights activists say hundreds of people have been deported to Bangladesh from Assam without due legal process, often based on ethnic profiling.
Many of them have allegedly been pushed across the border at gunpoint, according to activists and lawyers who have challenged the measures in court.
They argue that the policies disproportionately impact the Muslim population by conflating religious identity with illegal migration.
The planned centers in West Bengal have raised particular concerns because of the state’s porous border with Bangladesh and its long history of migration.
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 the ongoing conflict there, in a possible violation of international refugee protection rules.
Adding to Muslim unrest, the BJP-led government in Assam on Monday introduced legislation to amend personal religious laws, which critics say could further marginalize minorities.
