3 min readGurgaonAug 1, 2025 07:57 PM IST
First published on: Aug 1, 2025 at 03:39 PM IST
The Mehnatkash Association has requested legal safeguards for Bengali migrant workers allegedly bearing the brunt of the ongoing foreigners’ verification drive in Gurgaon district.
In an email sent to the Gurgaon district administration, police commissioner, chief secretary, and the National Human Rights Commission on Thursday, the civil society group alleged illegal detention and deportation of Indian citizens during the ongoing ‘Special Talashi Abhiyan’.
The email expressed concern over the detentions reportedly carried out following a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) order dated May 2, and a subsequent district administration directive issued on July 18. The operation is aimed at identifying “illegal immigrants” in Gurgaon.
According to Mehnatkash, the drive has resulted in mass detentions and deportations, disproportionately impacting unorganised migrant workers – particularly citizens from West Bengal and Assam – and members of the Muslim community.
It alleged that raids were being conducted in labour colonies, slums, construction sites, auto stands, and households employing domestic workers.
“Entire families have fled overnight, abandoning their homes, employment, and children’s education. Many who have returned to their home states face unemployment, debt, and social stigma. At the same time, employers in Gurugram are reporting acute shortages of workers, severely impacting the informal economy, particularly the domestic work, construction, and service sectors,” the email states.
The organisation further alleged that some detainees have been mistakenly designated “illegal Bangladeshi immigrants” without proper legal process or investigation, despite subsequent verification by local authorities confirming their Indian citizenship.
The association attributed the situation, in part, to the non-implementation of the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979, which mandates the registration of migrant workers.
It has called for immediate cessation of raids, individualised legal scrutiny of all detentions, and a ban on collective deportations. Additional demands include judicial oversight, rehabilitation for wrongfully deported citizens, compensation for affected families, anti-discrimination police training, and full legal safeguards for internal migrants.
The Gurgaon police had recently said they would round up only “confirmed Bangladeshis” as part of the verification drive, and added that they had shut four holding facilities that housed suspected foreigners.
The four facilities were at community centres in Badshahpur, Sector 10A, Sector 40, and Sector 1 in Manesar.
“We had completed verification and checking of the suspected foreigners, hence the move. Even earlier, only those who were strong suspects based on missing or discrepancies in documents, or, for example, with Bangladeshi numbers on their phone… were taken to the holding centres and immediately released post verification. Nobody needs to fear or flee,” a police spokesperson said.
The newly elected BJP government in West Bengal has prioritized the issue of illegal immigration. (Representational image) 
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