Supreme Court Asks Assam Government To Provide Details Of Steps Taken To Deport Declared Foreigners

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has sought a response from the central and the Assam government on the measures taken for the deportation of declared foreigners languishing in detention camps in Assam.

The division bench of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih of the apex court has given the central and state governments four-week time to provide details of the measures taken by them to deport 211 declared foreigners who have been languishing in the Matia detention camp in Goalpara.

Hearing the petition yesterday, the apex court advised the central and the state government to work together to deport the declared foreigners.

In an earlier hearing in July this year, the same bench of the Supreme Court cited the report of the Assam Legal Service Authority (ALSA) that stated the condition of the detention camp at Matia as ‘deplorable’.

In a hearing on August 14 this year, the Union Home Ministry (MHA) informed the Supreme Court that the centre had already delegated the power to the state government for the deportation of the declared foreigners. The court said, “Power may have been delegated but it is the responsibility of both governments to deport the foreigners.”

The MHA also informed the court that issues of deportation are settled after diplomatic interaction of the Ministry of External Affairs of the two countries concerned. The Assam government, on the other hand, informed the court that it sent nationality verification forms to the Union Ministry of External Affairs, but the report of verification was not received.

According to Assam Home Department sources, nationality verification of declared foreigners is a lengthy process. The Ministry of External Affairs of India sends the addresses of the declared foreigners to their Bangladesh counterparts for ascertaining their addresses in Bangladesh.

Bangladeshi police will go to the given addresses for the ground report. If they find the addresses from the relatives or neighbours of the declared foreigners, the neighbouring country will accept the declared foreigners as theirs.

If Bangladesh police do not find any such persons in the given addresses, the neighbouring country will let India know that the persons declared as foreigners in India are not their citizens. However, foreigners caught on the spot while crossing the border can be pushed back instantly. In the past few months, around 70 Bangladeshis who entered India illegally were pushed back.

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