Assam ‘pushing’ back declared foreigners to Bangladesh, says Himanta Biswa Sarma
Assam is “pushing” back to Bangladesh persons who have been declared foreigners by the state’s Foreigners Tribunals, confirmed Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday.
The statement came against the backdrop of a surge in detentions of declared foreigners in Assam since May 23. Families say they have no information on their relatives’ whereabouts. Some of them have identified their missing relatives in videos from Bangladesh, alleging they were forcibly sent across the border.
Saying that the process to push back foreigners would continue, Sarma claimed that the action was being taken as per the directives issued by the Supreme Court in February.
On February 4, the top court directed the state government to start the process of deporting foreign nationals being held in the state’s detention centres immediately.
The court had said that foreign nationals can be deported even without an address. “You cannot continue to detain them indefinitely...Once they are held to be foreigners, they should be deported immediately.”
Sarma claimed on Friday that the state was only pushing back those who have been declared foreigners and have not appealed in court.
“If among them, some people tell us that they have appeals in the High Court or Supreme Court, then we are not troubling them,” he said.
Foreigners Tribunals in Assam...
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