addressing about Bangladeshi illegal immigrants
Assam In Assam, the
Assam Movement against illegal immigrants started as early as 1979 and ended in 1985, led by the
All Assam Students Union. Over six years, 855 (later on 860 as submitted by AASU) people sacrificed their lives in the hope of an "Infiltration Free Assam". They demanded an end to the influx of immigrants and deportation of those who have already settled. In 1985, the Indian Government signed the
Assam Accord with the leaders of the protest to stop the issue. As per the accord, India began building a fence along the Assam-Bangladesh border which is now almost complete. However, Assam also has a large number of legal Indian Muslims. It is difficult to distinguish between illegal Bangladeshis and local
Bengali speakers. In some cases, genuine Indian citizens have been discriminated against. On the other hand, reports of Bangladeshis being able to secure Indian ration and voter identity cards have come out. After the 1991 census, the changing demographic patterns in border districts became more visible. as well as moderates, In August 2025, Assam Chief Minister
Himanta Biswa Sarma launched a major drive to capture and deport illegal Bangladeshis, following an increase in infiltration. In process, while public land of thousands of hectares encroached by the illegal Bangladeshis and Rohingyas was reclaimed, Sarma was criticized by opposition leaders, alleging violation of human rights and discrimination.
Delhi There was an organised influx of nearly 40,000 illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya Muslimses immigrants in Delhi who have been said to pose a
national security risk and threaten the national integration. A lawyer named
Ashwini Upadhyay filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the "Supreme Court of India" (SC) to identify and deport these. In a response to this PIL,
Delhi Police told the SC in July 2019 that nearly 500 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants had been deported in the preceding 28 months.
Gujarat In April 2025, the Gujarat Police launched a major drive to search for illegal immigrants following the Pahalgam attack. Around 890 illegal Bangladeshis in Ahmedabad and 134 in Surat were captured and arrested, as stated by Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi, who also added that many of them working for smugglers, drug cartels, and sleeper cells for terrorist outfits. The investigation and drive revealed that the illegal Bangladeshi immigrants possessed forged documents after enter India illegally.
Haryana In September 2019, the
Chief Minister of Haryana,
Manohar Lal Khattar announced the implementation of NRC for Haryana by setting up a legal framework under the former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice HS Bhalla for updating NRC which will help in "weeding out" these illegal immigrants. Many of the migrants arrested were living for more than a decade under false identities, and were connected to the Mehdi Foundation International (MFI), which was involved in Islamic religious campaign.
Kerala Although Kerala is at a large distance from Bangladesh (~2500 km), Bangladeshi illegal migrants have been moving to
Kerala due to the high wages for unskilled and semi-skilled labourers. Following the Kerala Police unearthing, the international footprint of this operation, both the Intelligence Bureau and
National Investigation Agency (NIA) have started probing. Some illegal migrants are fully equipped with all valid Indian documents by the time they reach their destinations. The Kerala police are reportedly finding it difficult to check the influx of these Bangladeshi migrants. Kerala State Intelligence officials said they found that a large section of migrant labourers claiming to be from West Bengal or even Assam were actually from Bangladesh. Anti-national activities have been reported; the latest in which in August 2016, a native of West Bengal was arrested for insulting the national flag and he was later found to be an illegal immigrant from Bangladesh. There is said to be a major racket at the borders of West Bengal and Assam with Bangladesh which provides illegal migrants with identity cards.
Maharashtra As a result of security risks posed by illegal Bangladeshi immigrants due to rise in crime rates, particularly threats of terrorism and religious intolerance, law enforcement officials of
Maharashtra Police began an extensive hunt for these immigrants statewide, many of them working in construction sites, or as laborers/maids. In January 2025, the
Mumbai Police arrested Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, an illegal Bangladeshi immigrant, who was accused of stabbing actor
Saif Ali Khan at his residence. During the investigation of the
riots in Nagpur in March 2025, the probe team determined a link towards Bangladeshis, as a few social media posts traced by the team were found to be in Bengali language.
Mizoram Bangladeshi Buddhist Chakma immigrants from Bangladesh have settled in the southern part of
Mizoram because they were displaced by the construction of the
Kaptai Dam on the
Karnaphuli River in 1962, the dam flooded 655 square kilometres and displaced over 100,000 people, most of them were Chakma people. The Chakma people also resisted inclusion into Bangladesh during the Bangladeshi Independence in 1971 through armed struggle led by
Shanti Bahini because they were ethnically, culturally and religiously distinct, this violent confrontation between
Shanti Bahini and
Bangladeshi Army led to Chakma fleeing Bangladesh for India.
Tripura Tripura demographics have been altered due to the influx of illegal Bangladeshi refugees and immigrants alike. The influx started from the 70s after the Liberation of Bangladesh 1971 and continues to this day. The proportion of the local
Tripuri population was reduced from 59.1% in 1951 to 31.1% in 2011. All major political parties in Tripura favour the replication of
National Register of Citizens of India (NRC) in their state too, although with some riders. In October 2025, the Bangladeshi Government lodged a protest, after 3 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, who were suspected of being cattle thieves, were lynched to death by several local residents at a border village called Bidyabil, after attacking two rubber plantation workers. Residents of the village had resisted the intruders from entering, prompting local authorities to investigate, and the bodies of those immigrants were handed to Bangladesh after post mortem was conducted.
Uttar Pradesh In October 2019, UP's
Director general of police who cited "very important" concerns for the state's internal security, instructed all district police chiefs, IG, DIG range and ADG zone to commence a statewide campaign to start Identifying illegal Bangladeshi and foreigners. UP DGP Headquarters has prepared for an
NRC for UP requires identification of new settlements around the railway stations, bus stands, roadsides and slum clusters where Bangladeshi and other foreign nationals could be illegally residing. They will be fingerprinted, and their identity verification will be video recorded, and suspicious people will be verified in a time-bound manner. Police will also track down government employees and touts who prepared fake documents for these illegal migrants.
West Bengal The other Indian state affected by this problem, West Bengal, remained mostly calm during this period. However Indian newspapers reported that "the state government has reported that illegal Bangladeshi migrants have trickled into parts of rural Bengal, including
Nandigram, over the years, and settled down as sharecroppers with the help of local Left leaders. Though a majority of these immigrants became tillers, they lacked documents to prove the ownership of land. After the 2001 census, the anxiety somewhat reduced when the growth rates were found to have returned to near-normal levels, particularly in West Bengal, thus negating the fear that there was an unabated influx of migrants, although some concern remains. The proportion of Muslims in West Bengal has grown from 19.85% in 1951 to 27.01% in 2011. That, of course, does not have any reflection on immigration, it is generally attributed to a higher growth rate amongst the Muslims. However, when one has a closer look at the CD Blocks along the
India-Bangladesh border questions come up. The exceedingly high decadal population growth rate in certain CD Blocks, such as in
Basirhat subdivision in North 24 Parganas district and CD Blocks along with the riverine international border in Murshidabad district does raise concerns. The decadal growth rate of the population for West Bengal in 200111 was 13.93%. The decadal growth of population in Basirhat I CD Block in 20012011 was 16.16%. The decadal growth of population in Basirhat I CD Block in 19912001 was 20.94%. The decadal growth of population in Hasnabad CD Block in 20012011 was 14.50%. The decadal growth rate of population in neighbouring
Satkhira District in Bangladesh was 6.50% for the decade 20012011, down from 16.75% in the decade 19912001 and 17.90% in the decade 19811991. The decadal growth rates, for the decade 20012011, were still higher in the border areas of Murshidabad district. In
Raghunathganj II CD Block it was 37.82%, the highest amongst all the CD Blocks in the Murshidabad district, 34.09% in
Samserganj CD Block, 30.82 in
Suti II CD Block, 29.02% in
Suti I CD Block, 23.62% in
Lalgola CD Block, 22.24% In
Bhagawangola II CD Block and 21.65% in
Bhagawangola I CD Block. The decadal growth rate of population in
Chapai Nawabganj District was 15.59% for the decade 20012011, down from 21.67% in the decade 19912001. The decadal growth rate of the population in the
Rajshahi District was 13.48% for the decade 20012011, down from 21.19% in the decade 19912001. Both districts are across the Ganges, in Bangladesh. == 2025 deportations ==