Assam deported only 5 declared Bangladeshis since 2013, why?

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Believe it or not, Assam deported only five declared foreign nationals to Bangladesh from March 2013 to July 31, 2021.

This is despite the government spending crores of rupees for the detection of foreigners through Foreigners Tribunals (FTs). At present, Assam has 100 FTs operational.

FTs detect foreigners staying illegally in the state when the Border Police refers cases to them. After FTs declaring an individual as foreigner, it is the responsibility of the government to send that individual to his or her home country.

According to official statistics, the state Border Police referred 4,34,396 cases to FTs till April 30, 2021. And of them, FTs declared 1,39,900 individuals as foreigners.

FTs declare detected foreigners in two categories – Declared Foreign Nationals (DFNs) and Convicted Foreign Nationals (CFNs). The DFNs are the ones who enter Assam illegally without any documents and get caught and declared foreigners. The CFNs are the ones who enter Assam legally with valid documents like visas and passports and get caught while overstaying in the state.

Before March 2013, the government would push back the DFNs through the India-Bangladesh border. However, after March 2013, the policy of Bangladeshi deportation changed. In the new system, Assam sends the addresses of the DFNs and CFNs to Bangladesh through the Central Government, and the neighbouring country verifies the addresses.

The cause of concern for Assam is the DFN category of foreigners. Despite sending addresses of DFNs to Bangladesh through the Central Government on a regular basis, the response from the neighbouring country is quite lukewarm. Sometimes, the declared foreigners also give fake addresses that make their verification very hard for the authorities in Bangladesh. This is one of the reasons why the state could deport only five DFNs to Bangladesh since March 2013.

On the other hand, the State could deport 272 CFNs from March 2013 to July 2021. This is because convicted foreigners have their address details in their passports that make their verification easier for Bangladesh authorities.

Given this ground reality, deportation of declared foreigners to Bangladesh from Assam seems to be next to impossible. Unless Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma takes up the issue with the Centre to devise a way out, the situation is not going to change.

Also read: Bangladeshi Repatriation: Still an unending exercise in Assam

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