India’s First Illegal Immigrant Detention Camp In Assam
Construction of India’s first illegal immigrant detention camp is in full swing in the Goalpara district of Assam. The detention camp is being built to house those ousted from the National Register of Citizens (NRC) list.
A total of 19 lakh people have been left out of the NRC list, making them stateless while 3.30 crores names feature on the list.
The mass detention centre in Goalpara district's Matia can accommodate 3,000 people and is being built over an area of 2.5 hectares, about the size of seven soccer fields. It will have 15 four-storey buildings to keep the detainees. The government expects the massive complex to be ready by December this year though the rain had delayed the construction.
Image credit - Reuters
Detention centre will also have a hospital, a common kitchen, and 180 toilets and washrooms (that’s one toilet for 17 people). Each room can accommodate 4-5 detainees. There will also be a primary school just outside the detention centre.
The detention centre will also have watchtowers but officials are quick to clarify that the Goalpara detention centre will not have tough rules like a regular jail.
Women with children and nursing mothers and will get a special care facility within the detention centre.
The construction for the detention centre began last year by the Assam Police Housing Corporation Limited with an estimated cost of Rs 46 crores.
Image credit - Reuters
Even though the Central Government has assured that whose names don’t feature on the list cannot be declared foreigners till all legal options are worked upon but when the deadline ends, those unable to prove their citizenship will be sent to India’s first fully-fledged detention centre. The time limit to file the appeal has been extended from 60 to 120 days. Ten such detention centres have been proposed in Assam.
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The mass detention centre in Goalpara district's Matia can accommodate 3,000 people and is being built over an area of 2.5 hectares, about the size of seven soccer fields. It will have 15 four-storey buildings to keep the detainees. The government expects the massive complex to be ready by December this year though the rain had delayed the construction.
Image credit - Reuters
Even though the Central Government has assured that whose names don’t feature on the list cannot be declared foreigners till all legal options are worked upon but when the deadline ends, those unable to prove their citizenship will be sent to India’s first fully-fledged detention centre. The time limit to file the appeal has been extended from 60 to 120 days. Ten such detention centres have been proposed in Assam.
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