Bengal govt begins crackdown on illegal Bangladeshis with holding centres, triggering fresh 'reverse exodus'

With the BJP government in Bengal launching district-level holding centres for suspected illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, border areas have started seeing a renewed rush of scores of alleged illegal Bangladeshi immigrants looking to cross back from the international border. One such sight was also seen at the Hakimpur checkpoint in North 24 Parganas, where hordes of people were seen gathered at the check point with belongings packed up in blankets.

This comes amid CM Suvendu Adhikari's recent renewed push to send back illegal immigrants using what the government called a 'detect, delete and deport' policy against infiltrators.

Large bags, rolled-up blankets and plastic sheets had returned to the Hakimpur border crossing on Tuesday, reviving a scene that had briefly unsettled West Bengal's political landscape last winter during the SIR exercise.

The BJP Bengal also shared a video of the people putting up at the border area on X.

This is the second time in the past few months this happened, last being when the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise was announced in November last year.

Over 100 alleged Bangladeshi immigrants gathered near the BSF checkpoint at Hakimpur in North 24 Parganas' Basirhat subdivision. Several of them reportedly stayed in areas like Dum Dum, New Town and Dankuni, working as masons, labourers and domestic help.

During November last year too, similar scenes were witnessed, with the alleged illegal immigrants flocking to the border areas to cross over, fearing expose of forged or borrowed papers.

"This reverse exodus started in November last year. Early this year, the numbers had gone down, but over the last two days they have risen significantly. We are following necessary procedures and are in touch with our counterparts in Bangladesh," a senior BSF official said, adding that most of them were voluntarily asking to be repatriated.

The state government has begun setting up holding centres in districts to temporarily house suspected Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingyas until their verification process is done for them to be deported.

Bengal's Malda district was the first one where the holding facility became operational and nine suspected Bangladeshi nationals have been housed there.

(With PTI inputs)