GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said the state would "push back" illegal immigrants and not wait for a repatriation treaty between India and Bangladesh.
"We are not talking about a repatriation treaty and we don’t need it. We will just push back the foreigners. We pushed back more than 2,000 people in last three months, 18 of them yesterday. So, that will be the new way to deal with foreigners," Sarma said, addressing media persons.
Stating that the process to drive out the illegal immigrants will intensify over the next five years, he exuded confidence that Assam would be able to expel 10,000 to 50,000 immigrants a year if they could be detected.
"If the eviction of foreigners was the hallmark in last five years, the next five years will be marked by the number of foreigners expelled. We are now confident that we can drive out foreigners. No Assamese could imagine this earlier," the chief minister said.
He further stated that, as there were no guidelines in the Assam Accord on how illegal immigrants are to be driven out following detection, persons declared "foreigners" were kept at a designated jail under detention but they managed to walk out on bail
The Assam Accord was signed between Centre and All Assam Students’ Union in 1985 at the end of a six-year-long bloody Assam Agitation. The accord says illegal immigrants, irrespective of faith, who came to Assam after March 25, 1971, are to be detected and deported.
Sarma said the Centre and the Assam government had arrived at a decision that a person would lose the right to live in India after he or she was declared a foreigner. This policy has been effective, he said.
He pointed out that the Supreme Court had stated that once a person is declared as a foreigner, the district magistrate has the authority to order his expulsion.
Meanwhile, Sarma said that Assam had been recognised as the fastest growing state in the country.
"India’s growth rate between 2020 and 2025 was 29 per cent. Assam’s growth rate during the same period was 45 per cent. We are heading towards becoming a developed state," he said, adding that the per capita income increased at a rate of 54 per cent.
Talking about the recent killing of Tripura student Angel Chakma in Dehradun, he said people in mainland India should be educated about the Northeast to avoid such incidents in the future. The culprits should be booked and given severe punishment, he said.