GUWAHATI: A 60-year-old woman died at a detention camp for illegal immigrants in Assam. This is the 27th such death and second this year since 2009.
Official sources said Rabeda Begum died of cancer on April 5 at the Kokrajhar camp, located 225 km west of Guwahati.
The Foreigners’ Tribunal in Hojai had declared her a “foreigner” in February 2018 and since then, she was lodged at the detention camp. She hailed from Krishnanagar in Hojai.
The woman was suffering from cancer for a long time. During captivity, she was undergoing treatment and briefly admitted to B Barooah Cancer Institute in Guwahati and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College and Hospital in Barpeta.
Advocate Aman Wadud of Gauhati High Court said only five people declared “foreigners” had been deported by following the legal process till date.
Given COVID-19 pandemic, the Justice and Liberty Initiative, of which Wadud is a member, had written to the Supreme Court last month seeking the release of all declared foreigners on humanitarian grounds.