Guwahati: Assam could deport only 329 of over 1.43 lakh foreigners from the state. Yes. Although the Foreigners' Tribunals in Assam have declared 1,43,466 people as foreigners till December 31 last year only 329 of such declared foreigners have been deported so far. The government also does not have any data on whether these declared foreigners are kept in detention centers or not.
The statistics are shocking for Assam, a state that had not only witnessed a six-year-long movement seeking to detect and deport the illegal foreigners living in the state but also seen 855 men, women, and youth attaining martyrdom over the anti-foreigners agitation.
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityananda Rai revealed the statistics during the recent session of Rajya Sabha. Rai while replying to a question by CPI's Rajya Sabha member Binoy Viswam also revealed that there are 1,23,829 cases pending at the 100 Foreigners' Tribunals in Assam. These Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies set up to decide on cases of contested nationalities.
The Tribunals are set up for faster disposal of these cases after the repeal of the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act in 2005. The number of the Tribunals were increased to 100 after 2009 for faster disposal of the cases.
The Union Minister of State for Home Affairs further revealed in the Upper House that these Tribunals have also declared 1,21,598 such persons with contested nationalities as Indian citizens.
It may be mentioned here that the government has been spending huge amounts of money every year for running these Tribunals. According to the government record, the government had spent Rs 69 crores in the last three financial years.
General secretary of the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) Palash Sangmai while expressing concern over the matter said that the issue needs a more pragmatic approach. "While the Foreigners Tribunals are set up in the state, they have failed to perform as per the expectations.
According to the provisions of the Assam Accord, all illegal foreigners in Assam must be detected and deported. However, the government informed the Rajya Sabha that they don't have any information regarding the whereabouts of the detected foreigners. This exposes the seriousness of the BJP led government at the State as well as at the Centre over the issue," said Sangmai.
It may be mentioned here that Assam had witnessed a six-year-long anti-foreigners movement between 1979 to 1985. Although the anti-foreigners movement, better known as Assam Movement, ended in 1985 after the signing of the Assam Accord yet, the problem of illegal foreigners in Assam is far from being over.
