The Delhi government on Monday instructed schools in the capital to prevent the enrolment of undocumented Bangladeshi migrant children and to notify the authorities if there were doubts about a student’s citizenship status.

“Schools must ensure strict admission procedures, verification of students’ documentation to prevent illegal Bangladeshi migrants’ enrolment, implementation of greater scrutiny to detect and prevent unauthorised admissions of illegal Bangladeshi migrants in particular,” said a circular issued by the directorate of education.

The government said that schools must follow a “thorough careful process” while admitting new migrant children, to ensure that “necessary documentation is submitted, verified and handled properly”.

In case of any doubt about the citizenship status of a student, the schools must refer the matter to the police and revenue authorities, the circular added. Apart from government-aided schools, unaided recognised private schools were also asked to comply with these instructions.

The deputy directors of education, at the district and zonal level, have been asked to submit weekly reports in the matter.

Chief Minister Atishi shared the circular on social media with a screenshot of a 2022 post by Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri about providing housing to Rohingya refugees under the Economically Weaker Section category.

“On one side are BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] leaders, who bring Rohingya to Delhi after making them cross the border from Bangladesh and give them EWS flats and facilities meant for Delhiites,” Atishi said in her social media post on Monday. “On the other hand, there is the Aam Aadmi Party government of Delhi which is taking every possible step to ensure that the Rohingya do not get the rights of Delhiites.”

Atishi said that the education department’s order aims to ensure that no Rohingya children are admitted to government schools in Delhi. “We will not let the rights of the people of Delhi be taken away,” she added.

In reference to the 2022 social media post, Puri had subsequently clarified that no Rohingya migrants had been given homes in Delhi.

Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal also said that his party would “not allow BJP to settle Rohingya in Delhi under any circumstances”.

He added: “We will not allow them to give the flats, employment and facilities of the poor of Delhi to the Rohingya under any circumstance.”

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi had on Friday issued an order for a drive to identify undocumented Bangladeshi migrant children in schools.

Earlier this month, Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena directed Delhi’s chief secretary and police commissioner to act against undocumented Bangladeshi migrants, The Indian Express reported. The police has been conducting searches in slums, unauthorised colonies and on footpaths.

This comes ahead of Assembly polls in Delhi that are expected to take place by February. The Election Commission has not yet announced the schedule.

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