Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in the Assembly on Monday that a total of 31,789 illegal immigrants have been deported from Assam since 1985 based on the cut-off date of the historic Assam Accord.
The accord, signed in 1985 at the end of the six-year-long bloody Assam Agitation (anti-immigrant agitation), says that illegal immigrants, who entered Assam after March 25, 1971, are to be deported.
Replying to a query from Asom Gana Parishad MLA Diptimoyee Choudhury, Sarma, who is also the state’s home minister, said altogether 1,72,673 illegal migrants were identified based on the accord, and 31,789 of them were deported.
The number of immigrants deported between 2011 and June 30 this year was 2,366. The BJP has been in power in the state since May 2016.
According to Sarma, cases against 73,750 others are pending in the various foreigners’ tribunals. The tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies that deal with the cases of suspected illegal immigrants.
The chief minister also said that 174 “declared foreigners” were lodged at the Matia transit camp and a few holding centres.
Meanwhile, 70 individuals had applied for Indian citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), and of them, six had been granted citizenship so far.
CAA allows migrants from Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain and Parsi communities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, who entered India between March 25, 1971 and December 31, 2014, to apply for Indian citizenship.
According to the Survey of India, Assam shares a 267.5 km border with Bangladesh. The Assam districts that adjoin the international border are Dhubri, South Salmara-Mankachar, Cachar and Sribhumi.
Replying to another query from Choudhury, Border Protection and Development Department Minister Atul Bora said 228.54 km of the border had already been fenced.
He said a 34.6 km stretch could not be fenced as it straddles a river, while fencing could not be erected along another stretch of 4.35 km due to opposition from the Border Guard Bangladesh.
According to the minister, the Border Security Force mans the riverine stretch under the Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System. He said it was up to the Central government to completely seal the India-Bangladesh border.
