India orders new deportation centres days after BJP election victory

The Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has ordered detention centres for undocumented migrants in West Bengal state, sparking fear of arbitrary expulsions

India’s ruling Hindu-nationalist party has ordered detention centres for undocumented Bangladeshis and Rohingyas in West Bengal state, sparking fear 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 set up “holding centres” for “apprehended foreigners” awaiting deportation, as part of a broader crackdown on illegal migration.

The government has defended its “detect, delete, deport” principle, saying those targeted are migrants staying illegally in the country.

“Illegal migration has security and socio-economic ramifications which are often well beyond law enforcement,” read the order issued last week.

The decision has fuelled anxiety among West Bengal’s roughly 35 million Muslims, many of whom share linguistic and cultural ties with neighbouring Bangladesh.