The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up the Assam government over the delay in deporting individuals declared as foreigners.
The Court directed the State of Assam to start the deportation process immediately, even without the foreign addresses of such persons. The State was also instructed to file a detailed affidavit regarding the nationality verification process, including dates of actions taken, within two weeks.
A bench comprising Justices A.S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan told the Chief Secretary of Assam, who was present for the hearing virtually, “Even without an address, you can deport them. You can’t continue to detain them indefinitely… Once they are held to be foreigners, they should be deported immediately. You know their citizenship status. Then how can you wait till their address is received? It is for the other country to decide where they should go.”
When counsel for the State asked the Court where these people should be deported to in the absence of an address, Justice Oka said,
“You deport them to the capital city of the country. Suppose the person is from Pakistan—you know the capital city of Pakistan? How can you keep them detained here, saying their foreign address is not known? Why have you not mentioned the date on which the verification was sent to the MEA?”
As for the Rohingya detainees, Myanmar refuses to recognize them as citizens.
Even as the counsel pleaded for time to file a proper affidavit in the matter, the Court said,
“We will issue a perjury notice to you (Assam government). As a State government, you are supposed to come clean.”
The Union government was given a month to clarify how to handle stateless individuals. The Court also ordered Assam to ensure better conditions in detention centres, forming a committee to inspect facilities fortnightly.
On January 23 this year, while hearing a plea concerning the deportation of declared foreigners and the facilities at detention centres in Assam, the Supreme Court of India questioned the Assam government for detaining 270 foreigners, including Myanmar’s Rohingyas and Chin ethnic groups, at the Matia transit camp in the state without providing reasons.
The Matia detention centre in the Goalpara district of Assam was inaugurated in January 2023. The camp detainees are those who have allegedly entered India without proper documentation, including refugees fleeing persecution from Myanmar.
