India has begun setting up detention centers for undocumented migrants, with reports indicating that West Bengal’s chief minister announced that approximately 4,800 migrants have been deported already. Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist party came into power last month, nearly 5,000 Bangladeshi citizens have been repatriated, according to official figures.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a decisive victory in the regional elections in West Bengal, a state with a population exceeding 100 million, vowing to intensify efforts to identify, detain, and expel illegal immigrants.
India’s extensive and porous border with Bangladesh—an overwhelmingly Muslim nation—has historically facilitated migration driven by economic struggles and long-standing familial ties. After assuming office, the new West Bengal government directed the creation of detention facilities for undocumented Bangladeshis and Rohingya refugees, a Muslim minority group fleeing persecution in Myanmar.
On Sunday in Kolkata, West Bengal’s capital, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari stated that roughly 5,000 Bangladeshi nationals had been deported across the border. “We have initiated the deportation process for Bangladeshi infiltrators who are not covered by the Citizenship Amendment Act,” Adhikari explained. He added that holding centers had been established across all districts in May, and that from these centers, 4,800 individuals had already been deported. Currently, 836 people remain in detention, with plans underway to expel them soon.
This crackdown on immigration comes amid ongoing political debate over border security. Some Indian officials have referred to migrants as “termites” and “infiltrators,” language that critics argue has fueled discrimination and marginalization of India’s Muslim community, which makes up over 200 million of the population. Critics also accuse the BJP of conflating religious identity with illegal migration, exacerbating societal divisions.
There have been previous allegations that India has forcibly expelled hundreds of Bengali-speaking Muslims into Bangladesh without proper legal procedures. Diplomatic relations between India and Bangladesh have also experienced tension; following a 2024 revolution in Dhaka that ended the autocratic rule of then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina—a close ally of India—she fled to India. With a new government elected in Bangladesh earlier this year, relations are gradually improving. In fact, India and Bangladesh’s border authorities are scheduled to hold talks in New Delhi this coming Monday.