West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari told the state Assembly that his government had deported 10,000 illegal infiltrators to Bangladesh, while another 1,800 were being held in 12 centres awaiting repatriation.
“We have already sent back 10,000 illegal infiltrators and another 1,800 are waiting in 12 holding centres to be sent back. We are sending back illegal immigrants every day,” the chief minister said on Tuesday, reports the Telegraph India.
Suvendu said the measures were being taken in the interest of national security and urged citizens not to worry. “Citizens of the country, irrespective of religion, should not be worried,” he said adding the government is initiating action against illegal immigrants according to the directive of the central government because the question of national security is associated with this.
He added that those wishing to leave voluntarily were free to do so. “Already, many immigrants have left the country through the Hakimpur border. Those who want to leave willingly are free to go,” he said.
On 2 May last year, the Union home ministry directed states to set up holding centres for illegal immigrants, particularly Bangladeshis and Rohingya.
An official said that according to the directive, the state police were asked to detain all suspected “illegal immigrants” and keep them in holding centres for 30 days while the police complete the investigation.
The DM or an official of equivalent designation was given the authority to decide on the citizenship of the detained persons based on the police investigation, he added.
Another official noted that the directive required biometric data of identified illegal immigrants to be collected and uploaded to the MHA portal before handing them over to the BSF for deportation.
While most BJP-ruled states began implementing the directive last year, the then Trinamool-led government resisted, citing harassment of Bengali-speaking people in other states.
After taking office on 9 May, the BJP-led Bengal government ordered police to detain illegal immigrants and instructed border districts to establish holding centres.
According to another official, the Indian police had started taking action against those suspected to be illegal immigrants soon after the chief minister’s directives. But this is the first time the Indian government made clear in the Assembly the exact number of people already deported or waiting at the holding centres to be pushed back.
Suvendu also said his government had handed over 142 acres of land to the BSF for fencing along the Bangladesh border.
He said, “Why did the previous government refuse to give land to the BSF? Perhaps it was to save their vote bank. We handed over more than 142 acres to the BSF within a month of taking over. In the next few months, fencing would be erected on 600km of the border.”
The state shares a 2,216.7km border with Bangladesh. Of this, 1,647.69km has already been fenced. Of the remaining 569.04km, 112.78km is not feasible for fencing, while 456.22km is feasible.
On that stretch, the Trinamool government transferred only 77.9km of land last year. The new government has accelerated land transfers to the BSF to expedite fencing.
