The detention centre built exclusively to keep illegal foreigners has started operations in Assam. On Friday, the first batch of 68 illegal foreigners was shifted to the Matia Transit Camp in Goalpara district. With this, the process of transferring illegal foreigners from detention camps inside regular jails to the transit camp has begun.
The 68 people shifted to the centre included 45 men, 21 women and 2 children. This group includes both people identified by Foreigner Tribunals as foreigners who entered India illegally, and also people who were convicted by courts for violation of visa provisions.
It is notable that the exclusive detention centres for illegal foreigners have been renamed as Transit Camps by the state government. Assam government is building transit camps to keep illegal foreigners till their deportation on the orders of courts including the Supreme Court and High Court. The camps are being built as per guidelines laid down by the centre.
Located in a rural area near Dudhnoi river in Matia in Goalpara district, the transit camp has been built on bighas of land at a cost of ₹46 crore. The camp has a total of 17 buildings, two of which will be exclusively for women. The camp has a capacity of 3000 detainees. Apart from residential facilities, the camp will also have a primary school, library, hospital, recreational activities, dining hall, kitchen, and so on. Adequate numbers of bathrooms and toilets have also been built.
With the completion of the camp, all illegal foreigners kept in six detention camps in Assam will be shifted to the Matia Transit Camp. Among the existing detentions camps that operates from regular jails, two are in district jails in Kokrajhar and Goalpara districts, and the rest four are in central jails in Tezpur, Silchar, Dibrugarh and Jorhat districts.
Around 1000 people declared as illegal foreigners were lodges in these detention centres. But most of them are currently out on bail, and only around 200 of them are currently in the centres.
It is notable that the courts have been urging the Assam govt to complete the detention centre and shift the illegal foreigners there from regular jails. In August 2021, the Gauhati High Court had ordered the state govt to complete the construction of the Matia camp withing 45 days, and then to immediately shift the detainees.
However, the camp was not complete withing the deadline for various reasons, including the pandemic. The high court in September 2022 asked the state govt to complete the construction on a war footing.
Then in November 2022, the High Court sought a report from the state asking why the process of shifting detainees to the newly constructed transit camp has not started. The court asked the govt to complete remaining work immediately, and even said that if the facility is not ready yet, the detainees should be removed from jails and placed in temporary camps outside the jails.
The court orders came responding to various PILs filed challenging the use of jails to keep illegal foreigners. The petitioners had sought release of the detainees. But the court, while agreeing that it is wrong to keep them in jails, refused to free them, and ordered to shift them to exclusive detention centres, now called transit centres.
The Gauhati High Court has ruled that jails in Assam cannot be used as permanent detention centres for keeping illegal foreigners, and said that detention centres must be set up for them outside jails.
