GUWAHATI: The Assam government has intensified efforts to identify and deport individuals declared illegal foreigners by Foreigners’ Tribunals, with recent actions reportedly involving the forcible pushing of such individuals into the no-man’s land between India and Bangladesh.
On May 27 and 29, at least 49 declared foreigners were pushed back from parts of western and southern Assam, officials confirmed. The move has prompted legal challenges, with at least three petitioners approaching the Supreme Court and Gauhati High Court seeking information about missing family members believed to have been expelled, and demanding an immediate halt to the operation.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday defended the drive, stating, “About 30,000 individuals declared as foreign nationals by tribunals have vanished over the years. The process of tracing them, which was paused during the NRC update, is now being expedited. Once found, we must act, in accordance with the law.”
Sarma warned that many more such pushbacks are imminent, asserting that those declared foreigners have the right to appeal their status in the High Court or Supreme Court. “If someone hasn’t filed an appeal, their right to remain in India is forfeited. But if they have appealed, we are not disturbing them,” he said. “Wherever courts have stayed tribunal orders, we’re respecting the judiciary and allowing those individuals to stay.”
The Chief Minister distinguished between two groups: recent illegal entrants and individuals who have been officially declared foreigners. Referring to a Supreme Court directive issued in February, he said, “The SC ordered that foreigners who have not appealed must be sent back by any means necessary.” He added that 35 Bangladeshi nationals who recently entered near Meghalaya’s border were detected in Silchar and immediately repatriated.
Meanwhile, concerns are mounting over the lack of transparency around recent detentions. On Thursday, the Gauhati High Court issued a notice to the Assam government, seeking details about two brothers—Abu Bakkar Siddik and Akbar Ali—declared foreigners in 2017. They had been detained in a transit camp in Goalpara and were released on conditional bail in 2020 after spending over two years in custody, following a Supreme Court ruling. According to a petition filed by their nephew, the two were re-detained on May 24 and have since gone missing. The court has scheduled the next hearing for June 4.
In a related development, the Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a habeas corpus petition on Monday filed by a 26-year-old man who alleged that his mother, Monowara Bewa from Dhubri and also a declared foreigner, was taken into police custody on May 24. Her current whereabouts remain unknown.
