Days ahead of the publication of the draft National Register of Citizens in Assam, the BJP-led NDA Government has sanctioned first standalone detention camp which will house declared foreigners.
To be set up in Goalpara district of western Assam at an estimated cost of Rs 46 crore, the camp will have a capacity to house 3,500 persons.
“This will be the first standalone detention camp with capacity of 3500 persons,” State’s principle Secretary Home and Political, lS Changson said this on Saturday.
At present there are six detention camps operating in the State, which are operating from within the jail premises.
There are a total of about 1,000 detainees in these six detention camps, she said.
Several organisations had earlier protested demanding closure of six detention camps in Assam while the Congress has demanded that detainees lodged in detention camps get legal assistance to prove their citizenship. Congress leader and former Minister, Pradyut Bordoloi said Government must look into the charges of human right violation in detention camps.
He said, “Most of the time it has been found that these poor and illiterate persons were not aware of the fact that they had to physically appear before the foreigner tribunals on time when they were summoned. As a result they were declared foreigners. There are allegations that these people are then dragged to detention camps.
Recent incidents like 102-year old Chandradhar Das and Anna Bala Ray are really unfortunate and painful,” Bordoloi said.
A 50-year-old Anna Bala Ray, a woman from Chirang district was lodged in detention camp. Her family petitioned the tribunal requesting for an opportunity to prove citizenship and later she was released on bail.