'Illegal migrants' from Bangladesh being 'pushed back' to avoid legal procedure: Assam CM Himanta

Guwahati: As the process to deport "illegal migrants" from Bangladesh has remained stuck for long, several such migrants including some from India's biggest foreigner detention centre at Matia in Assam, are being "pushed back" in order to avoid legal procedure, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

Sarma said it was an "operation" by the Government of India and Assam was a stakeholder. "The identified foreigners from the Matia camp have also been pushed back. The declared foreigners who have not filed an appeal have also been pushed back. Only 30 to 40 foreigners are now staying in the Matia camp. They have litigation pending in courts," Sarma told reporters on Saturday, on the fourth anniversary of his government in Assam.

"Earlier we used to detain them, register a case, produce them in the court and put them into jails. But now we have decided that we will not bring them inside and will push them back from the border itself. So pushing them back is a new phenomenon," Sarma said.

Sarma's statement came amid reports about detention of 123 Rohingya and Bengali-speaking people, who were allegedly pushed back into Bangladesh from India. The BGB said the Bangladesh government was in touch with New Delhi regarding the matter.

A vexed issue in Assam

The issue of illegal migration from Bangladesh has remained a vexed issue in Assam and takes centre stage in politics ahead of elections. The indigenous Assamese people have been demanding deportation of all the post-1971 migrants from Bangladesh as per provisions in the Assam Accord of 1985 but the nitty gritties in the legal system have delayed the deportation.

According to official records, there were 270 inmates lodged in the foreigner detention camp at Matia in Assam's Goalpara district. This included 100-odd Rohingyas and 70 other Bangladeshi nationals.

"Earlier, we used to detain 1,000 to 1,500 illegal migrants from Bangladesh. The number now will be less as we are pushing them back right from the border," Sarma said.

Assam, West Bengal, Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram share a 4,093 km border with Bangladesh. However, many stretches of the border still remained unfenced, aiding illegal migration and cross border crimes.

Sarma earlier said there was an increase in illegal influx from Bangladesh following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina government in July last year.

Delay in deportation

The Supreme Court in February asked the Centre and Assam government why it was taking so long to deport 63 foreigners. Officials said that the delay was mainly due to non-verification of the details (addresses) of those declared foreigners in Indian courts by Bangladesh authorities.

Foreigners in Assam:

Declared foreigners by Foreigner Tribunals (FT): 1,59,353 till December 2023.

Deported (mainly Bangladeshis): 3,100 (between 2001-2023)

Cases pending in Foreigner Tribunals: 96,149