Using the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950, Assam authorities on Thursday demanded that fifteen "declared foreigners" depart the state within a day.
A person who has not proven their citizenship in front of a Foreigners' Tribunal is referred to as a "declared foreigner." Foreigners' tribunals are quasi-judicial organizations tasked with making decisions in matters involving alleged unlawful immigrants.
A Foreigner's Tribunal determined that the 15 immigrants, six of whom were women, were from Bangladesh and had been living in India unlawfully.
Nagaon District Commissioner Devashish Sarma ordered them to depart the nation within 24 hours of receiving the directive on December 17.
According to an official, it was given to them on Thursday. The declared foreigners were instructed to "remove themselves from the territory of Assam, India, within 24 hours of receiving the order via the Dhubri/Sribhumi/South Salmara-Mankachar route."
The deportation procedure would be carried out by Nagaon police. Six of them are currently being held at the Matia Transit Camp in Goalpara, five more are being held at the 7th Assam Police Battalion at Charaikhola in the Kokrajhar district, and the details of four others were not included in the official order copy.
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 Rahim Sheikh (46) and Burek Ali (60).
This is the second recent instance of the 1950 Act being used. Five "declared foreigners" were ordered to be expelled by the Sonitpur district administration in November.
Nevertheless, the deportation procedure stalled and the individuals could not be located. Himanta Biswa Sarma, the chief minister of Assam, had stated earlier this year that suspected foreigners will be sent back immediately after being arrested by the police, without the involvement of Foreigners' Tribunals.
According to Sarma, a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court noted during hearings pertaining to Clause 6 of the Assam Accord that the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950, which gives District Magistrates the authority to issue deportation orders once illegal migrants are discovered by the police, is still in effect.
"I was not aware of this fact earlier, but now we are going to deport the illegal migrants immediately after detecting them," Sarma stated. Several people were forced back via the Indo-Bangladesh border as part of the Assam government's countrywide crackdown on suspected illegal migrants on May 24.
The Matia Transit Camp in Goalpara received a sizable number of prisoners. In the early hours of May 27, fourteen of them were driven across a border into Bangladesh in the South Salmara-Mankachar district.
After three days, the people were returned and went home after some family members petitioned the Gauhati High Court. The Chief Minister then declared that some people will be deported immediately without the involvement of Foreigners Tribunals, while those having cases pending before the High Court or Supreme Court would not be deported.
He continued by saying that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) activity had previously put a halt to the detection and expulsion procedure.
"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 stated. Sarma stated on May 30 that the search for and expulsion of almost 30,000 declared foreign nationals is still ongoing.
