The elephant in the room

The Gauhati High Court's directive to the Assam government for submission of an action taken report on the steps to set up detention camps outside the jail premises is a wakeup call on a looming crisis. In absence of a repatriation treaty with Bangladesh, the state is staring at the problem of keeping a large number of declared foreigners in detention centres. Repatriation of illegal Bangladeshi migrants from Assam is like the elephant in the room which successive governments in the state and at the Centre pretend not to notice. The final list of the updated National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam is an indicator of this crisis. Altogether 19.06 lakh applicants' names were excluded from the final list as the NRC authorities rejected their residency claims. Those excluded will get 120 days to file an appeal before the respective Foreigners Tribunals (FT) from the date of serving of the rejection certificates by the NRC authorities on them. In addition to 100 existing FTs, the State government has set up more than 200 additional FTs. The Central government decided to set up 1000 FT for expeditious disposal of such a huge number of cases of excluded NRC applicants. The Clause 5 of the Assam Accord requires expulsion the illegal Bangladeshi migrants. Till July 31, altogether 1,36,149 persons have been declared as foreigners by the FTs. This figure, however, does not include the cases of excluded NRC applicants as the process in respect of them is yet to begin. The State government informed the Assam Assembly that from March 13, 2013 till July 31, 2020 only 227 persons have been "deported." The government also informed the House that altogether 425 persons are lodged in six detention centres in the state. This explains the enormity of the repatriation problem and why the issue is ignored. The Foreigners' Division at the Ministry of Home Affairs urged all State Governments and Union Territory administrations on September 10, 2014 to set up sufficient number of "Detention Centres/Holding Centres/Camps" for restricting the movement of illegal immigrants/foreign nationals awaiting deportation/repatriation after completion of sentence due to non-confirmation of nationality, under the provisions of Section 3(2)(e) of Foreigners Act, 1946. The Central government left to the State Governments/UT Administrations to decide on the number of such Detention Centres/Holding Centres/Camps to be setup, area space required, security measures required to be provided etc., keeping in view the actual requirements based on the number of such illegal immigrants etc. to be housed as well as the progress of deportation proceeding. Such Centres/Camps should be set up outside the jail premises and it may please be ensured that all the basic amenities like electricity with generator, drinking water (including water coolers), hygiene, accommodation with beds, sufficient toilets/baths with provision of running water, provision for kitchen, round the clock security arrangement, sentry posts and guard room etc are provided. There should be sufficient open space within the compound for detainees to move around in a secure environment. There should be properly segregated accommodation for male and female detainees. There should be a proper boundary wall with dense barbed wire fencing above the boundary wall. The staff posted should be well trained to ensure that the detainees are treated with due dignity. Provision may also be made for medical attendance for the detainees. The High Court also noted in the directive that pursuant to an order of the Supreme Court the Central government prepared a model manual which states that these centres/camps shall be set up outside the jail premises. Pending acquisition of land and construction of the building the State Governments/UT may hire suitable accommodation for the purpose. The Assam government notified a part of the existing jail premises in Goalpara, Kokrajhar, Jorhat, Silchar, Dibrugarh and Tezpur to be detention centres for detaining the declared foreigners pending their deportation or repatriation. A separate detention centre with a capacity to lodge 3000 detainees is being built in Goalpara district. The number of declared foreigners and fresh addition in their numbers following adjudication of the appeals of those excluded by the FTs will require many more such detention centres with all facilities to ensure that detainees are treated with dignity till their repatriation. The Central government must take up the issue of repatriation of the illegal Bangladeshi migrants declared as foreigners in the state and elsewhere in the country. India should seize the opportunity of the deepening bilateral engagements between the two South Asian neighbours to sign a repatriation treaty with Bangladesh. Rights of those lodged in detention centres/camps will continue to be curtailed till the two countries mutually resolve the issue. India also cannot afford the detention centres/camps to become a permanent feature as it will attract negative global attention of alleged violation of right of those detained for long years.