Standalone Detention Camp: A New Year gift to Assam!

November 11: The declared foreigners in Assam are meant to be sent to detention camps until they prove their citizenship in a higher judiciary. But what are these detention camps? Detention camps are infact real prisons. In the absence of detention camps, the declared foreigners are sent to prisons and are kept with prisoners. Hence the declared foreigners are neither citizens nor considered refugees. The Supreme Court has directed the Assam government to expedite the construction of a proper detention centre as an amount for the same had already been sanctioned by the Union Government.

This issue has become much more problematic and complex as because there is no national prescription about their rights. To put them in prison is nothing but a violation of their human rights. The legal non-applicability of  Jail Manual Rules to detainees means that they are not allowed to work for a wage, unlike other jail inmates who can work for Rs 55 a day (unskilled labour) or Rs 75 a day (skilled labour) in Assam. The legal differentiation also means that detainees cannot be granted parole, no matter how long they have been detained. Only visits by families, lawyers etc. are allowed, after due permission is granted by the DSP (Border) and the Jail Superintendent.

The Border Police is not supposed to issue/hand over any arrest memo and/or the reason for such detention in writing to the detainees and/or to their next of kin which is so vitally required both under the codified laws as well as under the principle of natural justice and thus causing grave violations of Human Rights. Foreigners’ Tribunals are constituted in Assam under section 2 of Foreigners (Tribunal) Order, 1964 for its opinion in regard to whether a person is a Foreigner or not. But in most of the cases, the Foreigners’ Tribunal other than its opinion also directs to strike off the names of detainee from all the Govt. records/documents including Voter List, Ration Card, Bank Pass Book etc. As a sequence, other family members of that person are also deprived from getting ration, education etc.

On the issue of detention camps, the three Judges bench of Supreme Court comprising of Justices Madan B. Lokur, S. Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta came down heavily on the State of Assam. On 31st October 2018, the State of Assam stated before the Supreme Court that tenders have been floated for an amount of about Rs.47 crores for construction of a standalone Detention Centre at Matia in Goalpara with a capacity of 3000 inmates. The State Government also stated that there are 47 detainees from different Detention centers who have to be reunited with the families. The Supreme Court also wanted to know from the State Government the detail steps being taken, if any, for providing LPG high pressure pipeline and details of medical facilities in Tezpur, Silchar and Kokrajhar Jail –cum-Detention Centres. The matter was then fixed for hearing on 2 November.

On  November 2, the Government of Assam stated before the Supreme Court by an Affidavit duly sworn by Joydeep Shukla, Deputy Secretary, General Administration Department, Government of Assam that tenders have been invited for setting up of a new detention centre in Goalpara and the work is expected to be completed with Pre-Fab Technology within 31st August,2019. The Government of Assam also stated that there are 47 Declared Foreign Nationals/family members that are proposed to be transferred for being re-united. In this regard, the Supreme Court opined that it would be inappropriate to keep the families separated without any valid reason more particularly since many of them have already been separated for a considerable period of time. So, the Court directed the State of Assam to speed up the process and to complete it within a period of seven days.

The State of Assam also stated before the Supreme Court that necessary steps are being taken to provide LPG high pressure pipeline in these three Jail-cum-Detention Centres within the financial year 2018-2019. The Government of Assam also assured before the Supreme Court that better medical facilities will be provided in the central Jail-cum-Detention centers of Jorhat, Tejpur and Silchar. In this Writ Petition, the Additional Solicitor General A.N.S Nadkarni appeared on behalf of the Union of India and stated before the Supreme Court on November 2 that separate Detention Manual/Guidelines are under preparation and work is being taken up very seriously.

It is to be mentioned here that the number of Foreigners’ Tribunals increased in Assam from 36 to 100, as more and more illegal migrants are expected to be detected, necessitating better arrangements. Although the State has at present six detention camps, these are located within the jail premises of Goalpara, Kokrajhar, Silchar, Dibrugarh, Jorhat and Tezpur.

As of now, it is certain that with the verdict of the apex court, formal Detention Camps will soon come up in Assam. It is time to ponder upon an electoral promise made by our present Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In 2014, Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate came to Silchar and assured the people of this valley in a huge electoral rally at Ramnagar, that if elected to power, his party (BJP) would “abolish the detention camps” in Assam. Well, promises are certainly made to be broken and the degree of the fragileness of the promise increases manifold when they are made to allure voters before the polls.