Bengali-speaking Indians caught up in immigration clampdown

Taslima Noor, 34, told DW that she has not slept for days since police in India’s capital, New Delhi, intensified their drive to detain Bangladeshis who they claim are in the country illegally.

“I have been working here for seven years, and I am fearful that the authorities will create trouble for my family,” said Noor, who is a domestic worker.

Noor is from a Bengali-speaking region of Cooch Behar in the Indian state of West Bengal, near the border with Bangladesh.

Since the beginning of the year, nine Bangladeshis have been deported from India, reportedly as part of a broader drive to clamp down on irregular immigration within the city. A number of Bengali-speaking Indians told DW that they have also been caught up in the dragnet.

Abdul Quddus, a construction worker who is also from Cooch Behar and has been living in Delhi for over a decade, told DW that police personnel recently visited his house.

“I have all the requisite documentation to establish my Indian bona fides but have been questioned three times already,” Quddus told DW.

Bengali-speaking Indians caught up in immigration clampdown – DW – 01/09/2025