Kolkata: The BJP government in Bengal has started “holding centres” in all 23 districts for illegal Bangladeshi, Rohingya and other immigrants awaiting deportation, resuming a process halted for a year by the previous Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government in defiance of Home Ministry guidelines, report Debashish Konar and Srishti Lakhotia.The order, issued by the state home department to all district magistrates over the weekend, came 72 hours after CM Suvendu Adhikari told reporters that the government will follow the “detect, remove and deport” principle in all cases of illegal immigration. There will be a holding center in each district where prisoners can be kept for 30 days.“Police cannot harass or detain those entering India before December 31, 2024. Those who are not covered under CAA are illegal immigrants and infiltrators. The state police will detain them and hand them over to the BSF, who will liaise with the BDR (Bangladesh Rifles, now known as Border Guard Bangladesh) and deport them, the official said.

TMC government had challenged the Center on immigrant holding centers

The previous Bengal government had refused to implement the Union Home Ministry’s guideline issued on May 2, 2025, alleging it was part of the Centre’s plan to snatch citizenship of a section of Indians. Trinamool had indicated that this was an extension of NRC, CAA and ultimately SIR. Former CM Mamata Banerjee had announced that as long as her party is in power, no one will be sent to the detention center in Bengal. Parallels were drawn with “transit camps” in Assam, where detainees identified for deportation by the NRC tribunal were kept.The government defines holding centers as special facilities, distinct from prisons, where individuals suspected of entering or remaining in the country illegally are held while their nationality is being investigated, as well as foreign nationals who have completed a prison sentence but must remain in detention until they receive deportation or repatriation clearance. The NCRB report for 2024 says that 905 people were arrested in Bengal that year under the Foreigners Registration Act and Foreign Nationals Act. According to last year’s NCRB report, foreigners constituted 9% of the population of 25,774 in Bengal’s jails. Bangladeshis constitute the largest number, comprising 778 convicts and 1,440 undertrials.