Only 15 pc 'declared aliens' can be deported under IMDT Act

GUWAHATI, March 6: Less than 15 per cent of the persons declared as foreigners by the tribunals under the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) [IMDT] Act can be deported from Assam as the provisions of the Act are loaded heavily against the police personnel engaged in the job of detecting and deporting foreigners. According to records available, during the period from 1985 to November last year, the Border police wing of the Assam Police initiated 319109 inquiries under the IMDT Act and 314519 of the inquiries were completed. The police referred 307407 inquiries to the screening committees and 43255 cases were referred to the tribunals. During the period, the tribunals disposed off only 18184 cases, declaring 10181 persons as illegal migrants. But only 1491 of them could be expelled from the country. During the same period, 24707 fresh and re-infiltrators were pushed back from India. Giving reasons for the failure to expel all those declared foreigners by the IMDT Tribunals, official sources pointed out that the provisions of the Act are loaded in favour of the illegal migrants. Sources pointed out that under the provisions of the Act, the police can serve a notice to a person declared as an illegal migrant by the IMDT tribunals asking him to 'remove himself from the country" within a period of 30 days. During the period, it is almost impossible to keep the person declared as a foreigner under surveillance because of lack of adequate manpower and during the period, the person declared as a foreigner can shift to another place. There were instances, where the persons declared foreigners by the IMDT tribunals even changed their names, and under such circumstances, it is almost impossible to detect them. Sources said that as per the IMDT Act, the onus of proof lies on the complainant and one has to pay a fee to lodge a complaint. Under the present situation, one cannot expect a person living in the border areas to lodge a complaint and if an illegal migrant gets into the country, it is almost impossible to detect him. Moreover, as per the provisions of the Act, the police is not empowered to seize any document or raid premises of the suspected illegal migrants. Moreover, from the records it is quite evident that the IMDT tribunals are not functioning properly as the cases are not being disposed off on time. However, sources said that a proposal has been mooted to appoint Judges from the lower courts in the tribunals to overcome the difficulty of delivering judgements due to shortage of Judges in the tribunals. Official sources said that as per the Assam Accord, the foreigners who came to Assam during the period from 1966 to 1971 should be detected and defranchised for a period of ten years and they have to register themselves with the FRROs. According to records available, the Border police initiated more than five lakh cases during the period from 1986 to November last year under the Foreigners Act and only 9856 persons registered themselves with the FRROs, while, only 24,789 names have been sent for deletion from the electoral rolls. Another problem the Border police is facing in deporting the illegal migrants from Bangladesh is that they have to be deported through the gates in Mankachar in Dhubri district or through Sutarkandi in the Barak Valley. Sources pointed out that very often the police have to face serious problems in transporting the illegal migrants to these two points for their deportations as it involves manpower and money. It may be mentioned here that the Union Home Minister, LK Advani, during his recent visit to Assam, also admitted that the IMDT Act, which is applicable only in Assam, is discriminatory. But at the same time, he said that the BJP could not repeal the Act because it did not have the majority in the Rajya Sabha. The Assam Government, in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, also gave a detailed account of the problems faced by the police in detecting and deporting foreigners from the State because of the IMDT Act and stressed the need for repeal or substantial amendment of the Act. However, the All Assam Students Union (AASU), which has been fighting for the scrapping of the Act, is not willing to accept the statement of the Union Home Minister and the AASU advisor Samujjal Bhattacharyya recently alleged that till date, the Union government has not even initiated any move for repealing the Act. He said that if the Union government can pass the finance bills in the Rajya Sabha, there was no harm in trying to gather the support of the other political parties for repealing the IMDT Act as the issue of infiltration of foreigners is related to the integrity of the country.