Assam Asks 15 People, Declared Foreigners, To Leave India Within 24 Hours

Assam authorities on Thursday asked 15 'declared foreigners' to leave the state within 24 hours, invoking the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950. 

A 'declared foreigner' is a person who has failed to prove their citizenship before a Foreigners' Tribunal. Foreigners' tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies mandated to decide cases involving suspected illegal immigrants.

The 15 immigrants, including six women, came from Bangladesh and have been living in India illegally, a Foreigner's Tribunal ruled.

In a directive issued on December 17, Nagaon District Commissioner Devashish Sarma asked them to leave the country within 24 hours of receiving the order. It was handed over to them on Thursday, an official said.

The order stated that the declared foreigners should "remove themselves from the territory of Assam, India, within 24 hours of receiving the order via the Dhubri/Sribhumi/South Salmara-Mankachar route."

Nagaon police would carry out their deportation process. At present, six of them are lodged at the Matia Transit Camp in Goalpara, another five are kept at the 7th Assam Police Battalion in Charaikhola in the Kokrajhar district, while the details of four were not mentioned in the copy of the official order. 

The 15 people have been identified as Jahura Khatun (48) of Kandhulimari in Dhing; Abdul Aziz (45) of Hedayat Nagar in Nagaon town; Aheda Khatun (46) of Bagariguri in Juria; Ajufa Khatun (45) of Garemati Khowa in Rupahihat; Hussain Ali (46) of Dighaliati in Raha; Fazila Khatun (55) of Hatiyujowa in Batadrava; Anura Begum (55) of Lengteng in Samaguri; Asha Khatun (59) of Shalbari in Samaguri; Nazrul Islama (55) of Chaparmukh town in Raha; Rahim Sheikh (46) and Burek Ali (60), both from Dighaliati in Raha; Idrish Ali (42) of Raha town; Rustam Ali (60) of Hatigaon Bagan in Kaliabor; Anwar Khan (73) of Garubandha in Jakhalabandha; and Taher Ali (58) of Goraimari in Kaliabor.

This is the second known instance of the 1950 Act being invoked recently. 

In November, the district administration in Sonitpur had issued orders for the expulsion of five 'declared foreigners'. However, the individuals could not be traced, and the deportation process did not progress.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, earlier this year, had said that suspected foreigners would be pushed back directly after being detained by the police, without intervention from Foreigners' Tribunals.

Sarma said that during hearings related to Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court observed that the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950, remains valid, empowering District Magistrates to issue deportation orders once illegal migrants are detected by the police.

"I was not aware of this fact earlier, but now we are going to deport the illegal migrants immediately after detecting them," Sarma said.

On May 24, the Assam government launched a statewide crackdown on suspected illegal migrants, during which several individuals were pushed back through the Indo-Bangladesh border.

A large number of detainees were sent to the Matia Transit Camp in Goalpara. Fourteen of them were pushed into Bangladesh through a border in the South Salmara-Mankachar district in the early hours of May 27. Some family members later approached the Gauhati High Court, following which the individuals were brought back and sent home after three days.

Subsequently, the Chief Minister said that those with cases pending before the High Court or Supreme Court would not be deported, but others would be deported directly without intervention from Foreigners' Tribunals.

He added that the process of detection and deportation had earlier been paused due to the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise.

"During a meeting with top police officials, we decided to restart the process, and after the Supreme Court's direction, we are going to intensify it further," Sarma said.

On May 30, Sarma said nearly 30,000 declared foreigners are missing in the state and that the detection and deportation drive would continue.