Assam: 402 B’deshis handed over to Bangladesh from detention camps in past 13 years

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The Assam government officially deported 402 Bangladeshis languishing in detention camps and holding centres (transit camps) since 2013. 

The Home and Political Department today informed the State Assembly that the declared Bangladeshis are kept in detention camps. “We send the documents of the declared Bangladeshis to the authorities in Bangladesh through the Government of India for verification of their nationality. After receiving a positive response from Bangladesh, we hand over the deported foreigners to Bangladeshi authorities. We have handed over 402 declared foreigners to the Bangladeshi authorities between 2013 and June 2026. “We haven’t yet deported several declared Bangladeshis due to the non-receipt of a response on their nationality status from Bangladesh,” the department said.

The department also informed the House that as of June 2026 as many as 174 declared Bangladeshis have been languishing in the detention camp at Matia in the Goalpara district and 45 in the holding centre in the Sribhumi district. The department said that apart from these, the state government has sent back over 200 Bangladeshis under the Immigrant (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950.

In the past ten years, the government expelled and sent back as many as 2,089 illegal foreigners to their respective countries – 2,023 to Bangladesh, 39 to Myanmar, 18 to Nigeria, two each to Afghanistan, Ukraine and Russia, and one each to Pakistan, Kenya and Uganda, the department said. The department further informed the House that as of May 2026 the number of declared foreigners in Assam was 1,11,414 Muslims, 61,189 Hindus, and 70 Christians.

Also read: RPF Detains 11 Suspected Bangladeshi Nationals in Guwahati Over Alleged Illegal Entry