GUWAHATI: The new government in Assam wants 250 ‘illegal’ Bangladeshi nationals deported immediately. Miffed at the slow deportation process, the State Government has written to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) asking the latter to streamline and fast-forward the deportation process on a priority basis.

The MHA, as part of the process, is expected to take up the matter with the nodal authorities (Ministry of External Affairs) and put the process on a fast-track mode by contacting Dhaka.

Sources say the State Home department is awaiting the nod from the Centre to deport over 250 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants detained in Assam, a list of whom has already been sent to the MHA.

In fact, over the past three years, only three Bangladeshi migrants were deported. This has raised serious questions on effectiveness of the formal deportation agreement between India and Bangladesh.

The letter has been sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs which will forward it to the Ministry of External Affairs,” said a report in the local media “With 100 foreigners’ tribunals functioning, the number of such illegal migrants will increase in times to come. The idea behind the pushing for fast deportation is also to ease the pressure on the State’s exchequer.”

The MEA that is mandated to send the name or names to Dhaka for identity corroboration and deportation. We expect the MHA to enter into some sort of correspondence with the MEA, which eventually will have to take it up with its counterparts in Dhaka

The letter, it has been reliably learnt, has reference to the names of altogether 258 persons whose Bangladeshi nationality had been confirmed by the Indian judiciary by now.

This is the first such initiative of the State Home department after the new government has taken over the reigns at Dispur.

Sources said although the total number of such detainees, whose names have already been sent to the MHA to facilitate deportation, was 247, paper work of another 11 such Bangladeshi nationals got completed recently, taking the tally to 258.

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had specially shown keen interest in streamlining the deportation of illegal foreigners to ensure that the process is not delayed further.

As on June 30, 2016, the six detention camps in Assam are at present housing 527 illegal migrants. Although several reports were sent to the Bangladesh Government, the response has been lukewarm from their end.

“On most of the cases, they either do not reply or deny existence of such persons. Under such circumstances, the situation becomes dicey. The matter has to be raised and discussed at length between the two nations to yield desirable results and this is what the State Government is striving to achieve,” the newspaper reported.

[Prepared by Debashis from Media sources]

  Assam, Bangladesh