India, May 27 -- Salim Gaji is a Bangladeshi national who entered India two years ago after allegedly paying touts to cross the border. Since then, he had been living and working in West Bengal without any documents. But on Tuesday, he was among hundreds of Bangladeshis gathered at the Border Security Force's (BSF) Hakimpur check post in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, hoping to leave India.

The trigger was the newly-formed BJP government in West Bengal directing district magistrates to set up holding centres for undocumented immigrants ahead of deportation, in line with its poll promise to "detect, delete and deport" illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and Rohingyas.

This is the second such large movement of Bangladeshis returning...