Action against illegal migrants is a joke, says Supreme Court

All being done in the name of evicting illegal migrants from Assam has become a joke, remarked the Supreme Court on Wednesday finding that precious little had been done by both Centre and state governments to address the problem flagged as "external aggression" by a 2005 apex court decision.

With over 52,000 foreigners declared by Foreigners Tribunals in the last decade and 91,609 since 1985, the state claimed helplessness as almost 79 per cent of these persons are absconding and have mingled among the local population. Only 166 have been repatriated to their country of origin so far and almost 940 declared foreigners are housed in the six detention centres in the state. There exist 100 Foreigner tribunals in the state but there is no study to examine whether the tribunals are enough or persons manning them need to be recruited.

Stung by this apathy of the state and Centre to address such a serious problem, a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna remarked, "This has gone too far and now this has become a joke.

Against 50000 odd declared foreigners you have close to 900 foreigners in detention centres. We have given you too many opportunities. Remember what we said in 2005 that Assam is facing an external aggression. We want to know what the Assam and Centre has done to meet this threat of external aggression."

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who represented both Centre and state filed an affidavit indicating that a meeting of Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs and Assam Home Department was conducted last week where some steps have been initiated. But the bench said, "How seriously the Assam government is considering this matter is evident from the absence of any officer to brief you. An officer sitting in Delhi is filing affidavit on detention centres in Assam. How is your government tackling the situation?"

With the matter listed next for March 27, the Court directed Assam Chief Secretary to file an affidavit indicating how satisfactorily the foreigner tribunals are functioning in the state and how many such tribunals and persons manning them are required in the near future. The affidavit will also indicate that pursuant to its 2005 decision in Sarbananda Sonowal v Union of India, how many persons were declared foreigners, how many were detained in detention centres, and how many had been sent back to their country of origin.

Only 166 Repatriated To Their Country

• With over 52,000 foreigners declared by Foreigners Tribunals in the last decade and 91,609 since 1985, the state claimed helplessness as almost 79 per cent of these persons are absconding and have mingled among the local population.
• Only 166 have been repatriated to their country of origin so far and almost 940 declared foreigners are housed in the six detention centres in the state.