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UP to set up detention centres after compiling detailed list of illegal immigrants
Official said the exercise aims to identify individuals residing or working in Uttar Pradesh without valid documentation, visas or refugee status
Lucknow: Commissioners and inspector generals (IGs) across Uttar Pradesh have been directed to set up dedicated detention centres to house illegal immigrants identified during an ongoing verification drive, following chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s orders to 17 urban local bodies (ULBs) to compile detailed lists of such individuals within their jurisdictions.
A senior home department official said the CM has directed 17 major cities or ULBs across the state — including Lucknow, Ayodhya, Kanpur, Jhansi, Varanasi, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Agra, Firozabad, Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj, Mathura, Aligarh, Moradabad, Saharanpur and Shahjahanpur — to hand over lists of Rohingya and Bangladeshi nationals currently working or employed within their municipal jurisdictions to the respective divisional commissioners and IGs for coordinated action.
He said the authorities are expected to submit progress reports directly to the CM’s office, with periodic reviews planned over the coming weeks.
The official said the exercise aims to identify individuals residing or working in Uttar Pradesh without valid documentation, visas or refugee status.
“The centres will serve as holding facilities for undocumented foreign nationals until legal verification, judicial proceedings, or repatriation. The CM said that the district administrations must coordinate with the home department, local police and central agencies to implement the plan swiftly,” he added.
On November 22, Adityanath had issued clear instructions to all district magistrates of the state to take prompt and strict action against illegal immigrants and had directed that temporary detention centres be established in each district to house infiltrators.
The chief minister had said that law and order, national security, and social harmony are top priorities, and that any form of illegal activity will not be tolerated.
Uttar Pradesh shares an open border with Nepal, allowing free movement of citizens of both countries, but checks on residents of other nationalities.
