GUWAHATI: The issue of illegal migration is in the spotlight. Again. The Supreme Court pulled up the Assam government last week following its submission that 63 declared foreigners could not be deported as their addresses were not available. The court issued an order seeking the initiation of the deportation process. Deportation, however, is a complex issue as it transcends the national boundary.
Supreme Court whiplash
A bench of justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said those declared as foreigners should be deported immediately and not languish in detention centres indefinitely. “Once they are held to be foreigners, they should be deported immediately. You know their citizenship status, so how can you wait till their address is received?” the bench said, insisting on the next logical step after a person is declared as a foreigner.
The court asked the Assam government if it was waiting for some “muhurat” and ordered it to start the deportation process within two weeks and file a compliance affidavit.
But according to a senior Assam government official, any decision on deportation has to be taken by the Central government. “We have already written to the Government of India and we will write again. We cannot deport illegal immigrants because it is a Central subject. Therefore, any decision on the matter has to be taken by the Government of India. Deportation, if any, will be executed by the BSF. Secondly, the Bangladesh government will have to accept the persons we deport,” the official said on the condition of anonymity.
Housing illegal immigrants
Six district jails served as the detention centres before the country’s biggest such facility at Matia in western Assam’s Goalpara district opened in 2023. In August 2021, the state government had replaced the phraseology “detention centres” with considerably-softened “transit camps” to give them a “humane” touch.
Currently, the Matia transit camp is the only facility that houses the declared foreigners. The 63 in question are from among the 270 lodged here, mostly believed to be from Bangladesh and Myanmar (Rohingya Muslims). An estimated 750 others are out on bail after undergoing detention for at least two years. Many of them are fighting their cases in court. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Supreme Court had issued an order directing the government to release those illegal immigrants, who spent more than two years in detention, subject to fulfilment of conditions, including submission of a verifiable address of stay after release.
Categories of illegal migrants
Deportation becomes easy when the illegal immigrants admit they are nationals of another country or when documents recovered from their possession suggest they are from another nation. They could be arrested under the relevant sections of law for overstaying or for entering India without valid documents. The process becomes difficult for those who claim they are Indians but have been declared “foreigners” by the foreigners’ tribunals for failing to produce documents to prove their Indian nationality. As for Bangladesh, it will not accept immigrants unless there are sufficient grounds to prove they are its citizens. Myanmar refuses to accept the Rohingyas.
Basis to declare a person foreigner
Illegal immigrants are detected based on the March 24, 1971 cut-off date of the Assam Accord signed in 1985 after the historic Assam Agitation, which was spearheaded by the All Assam Students’ Union. The accord says the illegal migrants, who arrived in Assam after March 24, 1971, are to be detected and deported. The 1951 National Register of Citizens (NRC) was updated based on the March 24, 1971 cut-off date.
Foreigners tribunals
Foreigners’ tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies which deal with the cases of people with doubtful nationality. Assam’s border police send notices to individuals when they suspect them to be not Indians. Once a person receives the notice, he or she has to appear before a foreigners’ tribunal and prove nationality with documentary evidence. They have to prove that their forefathers lived in Assam before March 24, 1971. Those who cannot are declared as “foreigners”, arrested and sent to the detention centre. Some fight their cases in court. There are several instances when people were eventually declared as Indians by the judiciary. Some die carrying the “Bangladeshi” tag. Sometimes, people are declared foreigners ex-parte when they miss multiple summons for appearance at a foreigners’ tribunal.
Lawyers’ take
Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Choudhury, a senior lawyer at the Gauhati High Court, said despite being Indians, some people often face harassment for failing to link their name to their parents or grandparents.
“The slightest of discrepancies in name or age may lead to a person being declared a foreigner. For example, a man named Burhanuddin goes for Haj and becomes “Haji Burhanuddin”. The tribunal says there is Haji in your name and you are a different person. He got the Haji adjective because he went for Haj,” Choudhury explained.
“There are cases where a man is an Indian but his son has been declared as a foreigner, or a person is an Indian but his sister has been declared a foreigner. The Supreme Court, perhaps, got a sense of such harassment and asked the government to deport the persons. Will Bangladesh accept them?” Choudhury, who has fought the cases of many declared foreigners, wonders.
F Z Mazumder, another lawyer of the Gauhati High Court, said roughly around 80% of those declared foreigners or are facing trials in the foreigners’ tribunals are women, irrespective of whether they are Hindus or Muslims.
“They are mostly poor and in their forties or fifties. They hail from rural areas where girls are considered a liability and married off early. Fifty years ago, we did not have the kind of road connectivity or health facilities like what we have today. They were born at home and have no birth certificates. They were married off before they had attained the age of 18 years. Their names are on the voters’ list along with their husbands and therefore, there is no linkage with parents. It is very easy to suspect them to be foreigners because linkage to parents cannot be traced through documents. When they are issued notices, they cannot submit any documents to establish their linkage with their parents which is necessary,” he said.
Post-NRC, CAA scenario
The NRC was updated under the direct monitoring of the Supreme Court. Over 19.06 lakh people, including many from indigenous communities, were excluded, prompting organisations and political parties to question the sanctity of the exercise. While some organisations demanded 100% re-verification of documents of the applicants, the state government favoured 20% re-verification in the districts bordering Bangladesh. The matter is pending in the Supreme Court.
Even as some organisations were demanding the detection and deportation of the illegal immigrants, the BJP-led Central government’s flip-flop came to the fore when it came up with the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act to grant citizenship to non-Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh, besides Pakistan and Afghanistan, who arrived in India till December 31, 2014. As of January 9 this year, the Centre received 23 citizenship applications in Assam. Two of them were granted citizenship.