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12,000 cases in Foreigners’ Tribunals
Why in news?
- The Centre informed the Lok Sabha recently that the Assam government has not constructed any detention camp in the State to exclusively detain those who do not have documents proving their citizenship under the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
More in news
- Assam published the final NRC on August 31 last year, in which more than 19 lakh of the 3.29 crore applicants were excluded.
- People in detention: Union Minister of State for Home said a total of 1,381 people were currently in detention centres in Assam.
- Cases referred to Foreigners Tribunal: As per the information furnished by the government of Assam, the number of cases referred to the Foreigners Tribunals in the last three years are 9,457 cases (2017), 2,051 cases (2018) and 599 cases (2019, up to November).
- Detenues in the Centres: The Minister quoted Assam government data on the number of detenues in holding centres in the last three years, after they were declared foreigners by the Foreigners Tribunal: Goalpara has 209 persons; Kokrajhar – 105; Silchar – 79; Tezpur – 661; Jorhat – 286 and Dibrugarh – 41.
- A total of 761 detenues were released from the centres in the last three years.
- About Foreigners Tribunals:
(1) The Foreigners’ Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies meant to “furnish opinion on the question as to whether a person is or is not a foreigner within the meaning of Foreigners Act, 1946”.
(2) Two kinds of cases in FT: those against whom a “reference” has been made by border police, and those whose names in the electoral rolls have a D (Doubtful) against them.
(3) The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has amended the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964, and has empowered district magistrates in all States and Union Territories to set up tribunals (quasi-judicial bodies) to decide whether a person staying illegally in India is a foreigner or not. Earlier, the powers to constitute tribunals were vested only with the Centre.
Sources
The Hindu