Bengali-Speaking Migrants in India Face Fear and Detention

• Bengali-speaking migrants in India are being questioned, detained, or pushed into Bangladesh.

• The crisis is used as a political tool for upcoming Assembly elections.

• Migrant workers from West Bengal are forced to return to other states due to job shortages.

• Migrant workers in Mondal village, West Bengal, struggle to find work due to lack of documents and regular calls from contractors.

• A group of about 400 migrant workers were detained in Odisha for three days.

• The Trinamool Congress (TMC) posted a 55-second video of the workers on social media.

• The fear of being detained is the greatest concern for the workers.

• Up to 1,000 people were identified as suspected Bangladeshi nationals, detained, and sent to six detention centres in the State.