Assam to have ‘transit camps’

THERE ARE SIX functional detention centres in Assam for detaining “convicted foreigners” and “declared foreigners”

In a significant move, Assam government has changed the name of the detention centres which house “illegal foreigners” in Assam to “transit camp”.

Though specific reason behind changing the nomenclature was not known, a notification signed by Niraj Verma, principal secretary of Assam’s home and political department, on August 17, stated that “the nomenclature of detention centre is changed to ‘Transit Camp’ for detention purpose” in partial modification of an earlier notification dated 17.06.2009.

There are six functional detention centres in Assam for detaining “convicted foreigners” and “declared foreigners” inside district jails in Goalpara, Kokrajhar, Tezpur, Jorhat, Dibrugarh and Silchar. These were notified temporarily by the state government in 2009.

A new detention centre for “illegal foreigners” is under construction at Matia in Goalpara district, around 150 km from Guwahati.

According to official records tabled in the Assam assembly in July, there were at least 181 detainees in six centres.

Out of the 181, 61 are “declared foreigners” and 120 are “convicted foreigners”.

In judicial terms, a foreign national who entered India “illegally” and is convicted by a judicial court is called “convicted foreigners” while a “declared foreigner” is one who was once considered an Indian citizen but then declared to be a foreigner by a Foreigners’ Tribunal — judicial bodies that adjudicate citizenship — in Assam.

According to reports, 29 inmates have so far died due to various causes at these detention centres. There are 1,36,173 cases pending in the Foreigners’ Tribunals, while 2,98,471 cases have been disposed of so far. The state government has so far repatriated 321 foreigners to Bangladesh.

According to a reply of the union home ministry in the Lok Sabha on December 10, 2019, only four “declared foreigners” have been deported to Bangladesh so far.