Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has said that approximately 4,800 illegal immigrants have been deported to Bangladesh from holding centres in the state’s border districts, with 836 more awaiting deportation from these facilities, PTI reported.
Adhikari asserted that illegal immigration was a big issue, and said his government has already handed over land to the BSF to erect around 100 km of fencing, out of the 556 km required to secure the India-Bangladesh border.
Border Security Gets Priority
The land handover is a continuous process and is necessary for the security of the country, he said, adding that securing the international boundary is the state government’s priority.
“We have handed over to the BSF around 100 km stretch of land out of 556 km required for fencing, and prioritised the Chicken’s Neck corridor in north Bengal,” the chief minister said, while addressing a preparatory meeting for the BJP’s special training camp on Sunday.
Officially called the Siliguri Corridor, the ‘Chicken’s Neck’ is a narrow strip of land in north Bengal—roughly 20–22 km wide and about 60 km long — that links the rest of India to its northe
astern states. Due to its strategic importance, it’s viewed as a vital and sensitive lifeline from both security and strategic standpoints.
Among all Indian states, West Bengal has the longest shared border with Bangladesh, spanning 2,217 km of the total 4,096 km India-Bangladesh international boundary.
Adhikari stressed that his government is now deporting illegal immigrants who don’t qualify under the Citizenship Amendment Act, in line with a Union government law, and said, “These people are being handed over to the BSF directly.”
He added that although other states had implemented this law, the previous Trinamool Congress regime in West Bengal never did, instead locking illegal immigrants in state jails where they lived on taxpayer-funded facilities.
“Around 4,800 illegal immigrants have been sent back from holding centres set up in the state’s border districts,” Adhikari said. He further mentioned that 836 additional people are waiting for deportation from these facilities.
Highlighting the movement of people at the Hakimpur border in North 24 Parganas district, Adhikari said that many illegal immigrants have already left independently.
“The demography of Bengal has changed,” the chief minister claimed, noting that the BJP had prioritized infiltration from Bangladesh and demographic shifts as key issues in the West Bengal assembly election, while accusing Mamata Banerjee’s party of ignoring both concerns for political motives.
Census Work Resumes After Years
Asserting that the previous TMC regime never initiated census work in the state, Adhikari said the BJP government has now launched the process, with house surveys set to occur from August 1 to 15.
“The census will be completed by the end of next February, and delimitation will be held based on it,” the chief minister said.