Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Tuesday that his government had pushed back 10,000 illegal infiltrators to Bangladesh and another 1,800 were waiting in 12 holding centres to be sent back.
"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 at the state Assembly.
Suvendu said these measures were being initiated for national security and asked Indian citizens, irrespective of religion, not to worry.
"Citizens of the country, irrespective of religion, should not be worried. 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," the chief minister said.
The chief minister also said that illegal immigrants who want to leave the country 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 May 2 last year, the Union home ministry sent a directive asking the states to set up holding centres for illegal immigrants, particularly Bangladeshis and the Rohingya.
"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," said an official.
Another official said that according to the directive, if anyone was identified as an illegal immigrant, their biometric data would have to be collected and uploaded on the MHA portal. After this, the illegal immigrant would be handed over to the BSF for deportation.
While most BJP-ruled states started acting on the directive last year, the then Trinamool-led government did not, citing the harassment of Bengali-speaking people in different states.
After taking the oath on May 9, the BJP-led Bengal government started taking action against illegal immigrants. Suvendu asked the police to detain all illegal immigrants, and bordering districts were asked to set up holding centres.
"The 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 government made clear in the Assembly the exact number of people already deported or waiting at the holding centres to be pushed back," said an official.
The chief minister also said that his government has handed over 142 acres of land to the BSF so far for erecting wire fencing along the Bangladesh border.
"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," Suvendu said.
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 and 456.22km is feasible. On the feasible stretch, the previous Trinamool government covered only 77.9km in land transfers last year. The new government has fast-tracked land transfers to the BSF so that fences can be set up quickly.