Govt flags 1.66 L illegal immigrants till 2024, only 30,100 deported
Out of them, 32,870 came between 1966 and 1971; and 1,32,661 came after 1971, Minister Atul Bora said;
A file image of Minister for Implementation of Assam Accord Atul Bora (AT Photo)
Guwahati, Feb. 20: The Assam Legislative Assembly was informed on Wednesday that nearly 1.66 lakh immigrants have been identified as "illegal" according to Assam Accord norms.
Additionally, just over 30,100 of them have been deported from the State, the Assembly was informed.
In a written reply to a query by Congress MLA Abdur Rahim Ahmed, Implementation of Assam Accord Minister Atul Bora said a total of 1,65,531 immigrants staying illegally in Assam have been detected till December 31 last year, 2024.
"Out of them, 32,870 came between 1966 and 1971, and 1,32,661 came after 1971," he added.
The government has so far deported 30,115 illegal foreigners from Assam, the Minister said without sharing details of their country of origin.
The Assam Accord was signed in 1985 after a six-year-long anti-foreigner movement. The pact stated, among other clauses, that names of all foreigners coming to Assam on or after March 25, 1971, would be detected and deleted from electoral rolls with steps taken to deport them.
The Minister also said that the Justice (Retd) Biplab Kumar Sharma Committee report on the Assam Accord has made 67 recommendations, of which 52 fall under the jurisdiction of the State government.
"We have decided to implement the 52 suggestions. We have already initiated steps to execute these recommendations," he added.
Regarding barbed wire fencing along the India-Bangladesh border, Bora in a separate reply said that work in 228.54km has been completed out of a total of 267.5 km of international border with the neighbouring country.
Out of the total border, 171.50 km is on land and the remaining 95.99 km is in water, he added.
STAFF REPORTER ADDS: The Union Government has discontinued sanction of funds under the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) from the 2022-23 financial year, said Border Protection and Development Department Minister Atul Bora in the Assembly on Wednesday.
Replying to a question raised by MLA Khalil Uddin Mazumder, the Minister informed the House that the State Government will take on new projects under the Programme if the Union Government sanctions the necessary funds.
- With inputs from news agencies
