GUWAHATI: The Assam state unit of the CPI-M has demanded closure of all the detention camps in Assam meant for confinement of persons who have been declared illegal migrants by Foreigners’ Tribunals.
The CPI-M state unit stated that it was inhuman to keep people in detention camps where there are no proper healthcare facilities, detainees are apparently suffering from malnutrition and are living life under tremendous uncertainty that has had serious affect on mental and physical health.
Stating that many have died in these detention camps so far, the CPI-M pointed to the sharp reactions evoked in the state after the recent deaths of two persons – Dulal Chandra Pal and Falu Das — in two detention camps at Tezpur and Goalpara in the state.
The CPI-M further stated that there had been instances where genuine Indian Citizens were kept in detention camps after identifying them as foreigners.
“Where is the practical need for such inhuman detention camps after introduction of biometric examination procedure ? The government should close down these detention camps and take administrative and legal means to solve the problem
Meanwhile, in the wake of exclusion of over 19lakh people from the updated National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, the government is now building detention centre to house these ‘stateless’ people besides setting up over 100 Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) to deal with cases of these NRC excluded people. Only an FT can declare somebody a foreigner, but the NRC.
A detention camp is being built in Matia in Goalpara district about 130 kilometers west from here. Once completed the camp can house up to 3,000 people. The authorities are planning to make it functional in the first quarter of 2020.
The camp is only for those who have been declared foreigners. Many of them are currently housed in six detention camps in existing jails across Assam. There are approximately 1,140 detainees in the six temporary prison camps in Kokrajhar, Goalpara, Jorhat, Tezpur, Dibrugarh and Silchar.