After hearing these updates, the Supreme Court gave time to the Centre and Assam Government to submit their latest status reports by April 30.
New Delhi: The Central Government informed the Supreme Court on Friday that 13 Bangladeshi nationals have been sent back to their country, and efforts are on to deport the remaining illegal immigrants currently staying in Assam’s detention centres.
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Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who represented both the Central Government and the Assam Government, presented the updates before a bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan.
He said that the Bangladesh High Commission is part of the deportation process because it must first confirm whether the detained individuals are actually Bangladeshi nationals.
Two Categories of Foreigners
Mehta explained that there are two types of illegal foreigners:
- Individuals declared as non-Indians whose nationality is known.
- Individuals declared as non-Indians but whose nationality is unknown.
He mentioned that the government is working with the Bangladesh embassy to get confirmation on detainees’ citizenship. Once Bangladesh acknowledges them as its citizens, the required travel documents will be arranged for their return.
Mehta also stated that the Nationality Status Verification Format of the detained individuals has been sent to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), and deportation can take place only after Bangladesh formally agrees.
ALSO READ: Supreme Court Directs Centre to Deport 17 Foreigners from Assam Detention Camps
After hearing these updates, the Supreme Court gave time to the Centre and Assam Government to submit their latest status reports by April 30. Additionally, the Gauhati High Court was allowed to continue hearing cases where some detainees challenged the Foreigners Tribunal’s decision.
The Supreme Court will revisit the matter on May 6.
Earlier, the Centre had informed the Supreme Court that the deportation issue was under consideration at the highest executive level.
On February 4, the Supreme Court criticized the Assam government for keeping individuals, already declared foreigners, in detention indefinitely. The court asked if the government was “waiting for some muhurat” to deport them.
The court also observed that Assam was hiding facts. It made it clear that once a detainee is identified as a foreigner, they should be sent back immediately.
Earlier, on January 22, the Supreme Court rejected Assam’s explanation for not sending nationality verification forms to the MEA, saying it was not a valid reason just because the detainees’ foreign addresses were unknown.
Calling Assam’s affidavit “defective“, the court strongly criticized the government for not clearly explaining why 270 foreigners were detained at the Matia transit camp.
The court then ordered the Assam State Legal Services Authority to conduct surprise inspections of the Matia detention camp to check the hygiene conditions and food quality.
The Supreme Court is currently handling a case regarding:
- Deportation of illegal foreigners from Assam.
- Conditions inside Assam’s detention centres.
During a hearing on May 16, 2024, the court asked the Centre to speed up the deportation of detainees from Matia detention centre. The court also instructed the government to give priority to those who had spent more than two years in detention.
The plea also asked the Assam government not to detain any individual declared a foreigner unless it can prove that deportation will happen soon.
CASE TITLE: Rajubala v. Union of India
