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Assam: In a recent operation conducted by a special police team in Assam’s Baksa district, 14 individuals, including nine women and five men, were arrested. The detainees comprised individuals declared foreigners by tribunals (FTs) in Assam and those who were apprehended for illegal entry into Assam from Bangladesh, thereby violating visa regulations.
The Superintendent of Police (SP) of Baksa district, Ujjal Pratim Baruah, revealed that the police had received court orders for the arrest of these declared foreigners and acted accordingly. "They were declared foreigners by tribunals at different times, and we received a list of them along with arrest orders. Consequently, our special team conducted the operations," he stated.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Md Jahur All (79), Sarifa Begum Bibi (76), Siddique All (42), Faziran Begum (65), Anowara Khatoon (50), Musstt Rahiman Nessa (57), Pariman Nessa alias Kariman (30), Musstt. Houshi Khatoon (38), Md. Amzad Ali (72), Mukbul Hussain (60), Mafida Khatun (52), Hamida Begam (65), Jahanara Khatun (70), and Maij Uddin alias Shaij Uddin (55).
Following their arrest, all of them were transferred to a transit camp designed for declared foreigners at Matia in Goalpara district. According to authorities, these detainees will be deported to Bangladesh later, adhering to the protocol.
A large detention center was opened in Goalpara’s Matia last year. Officially known as the “Matia Transit Camp,” it was built on a 28,800 sq ft area and received its first batch of foreigners on January 27 of that year. In March of the current year, Assam's Inspector General of Prisons, Pubali Gohain, confirmed that all the inmates of the state’s six detention camps have been shifted to the Matia transit camp. The inmates include individuals from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Senegal, and several other African countries who had illegally entered Assam.
Notably, while many Bangladeshi illegal migrants have been repatriated to their home country in recent years, individuals declared as foreigners by FTs have not been sent back. Activist Kamal Chakrabarty explained that Bangladesh typically repatriates only those who entered India from their country but does not accept those who were declared Bangladeshi by Indian FTs.
In April 2020, the Supreme Court of India directed the Assam government to release detainees who had spent two years in detention camps on bail. Consequently, many individuals were released from detention following this order.
