- The Supreme Court has rebuked the Assam government on its failure to come up with a future course of action to track down absconding illegal foreigners and thousands other undeclared ones in the state. An illegal foreigner is declared so my Foreigners Tribunals of Assam. The SC is hearing a plea which raised the issue of dismal living conditions in the detention centres of Assam.
- The Supreme Court has also criticised the “pushing back” of illegal migrants to Bangladesh without enquiring about their country of origin. However, the government highlighted the issues with determining nationality of illegal foreigners. The government clarified that the “push-back” policy was stopped in 2013. At present, diplomatic channels are employed to determine the nationality of an illegal foreigner and to deport the person.
- According to Citizenship Act 1955, an illegal migrant is a foreigner who enters the country without valid travel documents, like a passport and visa, or enters with valid documents, but stays beyond the permitted time period. Foreigner is one who is not a citizen of India. Illegal migrants may be imprisoned or deported under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920.
- Foreigners Tribunal (FT) was set up in Assam in 1964 through the Foreigners Tribunal Order 1964. The tribunals have been mandated with identifying the legal status of suspected foreigners in Assam.
