AFP, India

Hasina Bibi clutched her hungry four-year-old daughter as she waited at an India-Bangladesh border post, trying to leave as fears grow of an Indian crackdown on undocumented migrants.

She is among the hundreds of Bangladeshis who have gathered over two days at Hakimpur in India’s West Bengal state, police said, hoping to cross back as authorities tighten enforcement under a new state government.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party won power in West Bengal earlier this month promising to “detect, delete and deport” illegal migrants.

The rush underscores growing anxiety among migrant communities -- many of whom lack proper documentation -- with rights groups warning of forced expulsions and limited legal protections.

Many are in limbo, caught between Indian pressure to leave and Bangladesh’s refusal to accept them without formal proof of citizenship.

Many have waded across a river to return in desperation, although the scale of the exodus remains unclear.

Last week, West Bengal authorities

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