The rail tracks between India and Bangladesh at the fenced international border on the outskirts of Agartala on May 26, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI

As many as 160 undocumented migrants from Bangladesh were flown on an Indian Air Force (IAF) plane to Agartala from Ghaziabad on Sunday (May 25, 2025) to be sent across to the neighbouring country, a senior government official told The Hindu.

The special flight took off from Ghaziabad and landed at the Agartala airport on Sunday (May 25, 2025).

The migrants included women and children who were detained by the Delhi Police from outer Delhi last week during a drive to identify illegal immigrants. The official said that the transportation is in line with the government’s decision to send the undocumented migrants to Bangladesh rather than wait for the deportation process which is “lengthy”.

Following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, 2025, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked the States to intensify the drive against undocumented migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar. The Hindu reported first on May 14 that the government was sending the migrants across the Bangladesh border for over the past one month. More than 500 migrants have been sent across the eastern border so far. On May 17, 2025, around 140 undocumented migrants from Rajasthan were flown to Agartala on an Air India plane and sent to Bangladesh.

Earlier, on May 4, 2025, two Air India planes transported 300 undocumented migrants, including 200 women and children, who were earlier detained in Gujarat, to Agartala and subsequently sent to Bangladesh via the land border.

On April 23, 2025, the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) under MHA intimated the Kolkata Police that 80 undocumented migrants from Delhi were being brought by train to the city from where they were to be taken to the border for being handed over to the Border Security Force.

On May 10, 2025, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said at a press conference in Guwahati that the government had decided to implement the “push back” mechanism to check infiltration instead of going through the legal route.

The detainees are different from the Bangladeshis who either overstayed their visas or who entered the country legally. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on May 22, 2025 that India has asked Bangladesh to verify the nationality of 2,369 “illegal migrants” so that they can be deported. MEA said that some cases have been pending for more than five years.

Explaining the process, another government official said that all government departments have been assigned responsibilities.

The police across the country have been conducting drives to identify undocumented migrants following which the FRRO is informed. In Delhi, after the migrants have been detained, they are taken to two detention centres located at Bakkarwala and Inderlok in north-west and west Delhi respectively.

“The FRRO arranges for their transportation, they are then handed over to the Border Security Force,” said the official.

Once they are detained, their biometrics are taken and stored with the MHA and Indian documents procured by them fraudulently are cancelled.

“The biometrics are being captured to ensure that if they manage to enter the country again, they are not able to register again for documents such as Aadhaar. Their details are shared with the Aadhaar authorities who have been asked to prepare a blacklist,” said the official.

On Monday (May 26, 2025), Brigadier General Md. Nazim-ud-Daula, director of the Military Operations Directorate of the Bangladesh Army, said at a press conference in Dhaka that “push-ins are unacceptable”. “BGB (Border Guards Bangladesh) is handling it efficiently, and if needed, the army will step in under government instruction. For now, BGB is managing well, within international protocols,” he said, according to Daily Star, Bangladesh.

After political changes in Bangladesh in August 2024, on the directions of MHA, the States started a crackdown on illegally staying foreigners in the country. The drive intensified after the Pahalgam terror attack.