India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI: On Monday, 28 Bengali-speaking Muslims, including nine women, were detained from different areas of Assam’s Barpeta district and shifted to the Matia transit camp in Goalpara.
The relocation was done on the orders of the Foreigners’ Tribunal in Barpeta which declared these individuals as “foreign nationals”. They were previously residing in different police jurisdictions throughout the district.
They were first picked up by police from different police station areas and brought to the office of Superintendent of Police, Barpeta. From there, they were shifted to the Matia transit cam.
Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime) Bidyut Bikash Bora told media persons commented, “We are implementing the orders from the Foreigners’ Tribunal. The process was executed smoothly and in compliance with legal standards.”
The family members of the detainees became emotional outside the SP office and protested against the police action.
Family members of those relocated urged both state and central governments to accelerate the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process. “We seek an immigration-free nation. The governments should expedite the NRC to ensure that innocent individuals are quickly cleared,” a relative of one of the detainees said.
As of January 2023, over 1,000 “declared” foreigners were detained across six jails in Assam, including Kokrajhar, Goalpara, Tezpur, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, and Silchar. Most of these individuals have since been released on conditional bail following rulings from the Gauhati High Court and the Supreme Court.
The Matia transit camp, which cost ₹64 crore to build, was initially designated as a detention center but was later renamed to reflect a more humane approach. The first group of 64 “declared” foreign nationals from Goalpara was transferred to the camp in January 2023.
