Detect, Delete and Detain: Suvendu Adhikari Calls For Setting Up Of Holding Centres

In line with its electoral pitch, the Suvendu Adhikari-led government in West Bengal has ordered construction of ‘Holding Centres’ in all the 23 districts.

The order by the Home and Hills Affairs Department directs police superintendents and commissioners, along with Kolkata’s Foreigner Regional Registration Office, to “take initiative/appropriate action for setting up of Holding Centres in the district for apprehended foreigners as well as for the released foreign prisoners awaiting deportation/repatriation in accordance with the MHA guideline under reference.”

 The Bharatiya Janata Party, in its poll pitch, had positioned illegal immigration as one of its key rallying points. Addressing a gathering in Kolkata, Adhikari said “First we detected (illegal residents) in the voters' list, then we deleted (them) from the list and now the time has come for (their) deportation."

The plank of ‘detect, delete, and deport’ is now touted as the government's strategy against those perceived as “illegal” immigrants.

Home Ministry’s Procedures

 According to an year-old notification by the Union Home Ministry relating to deportation of ‘illegally staying Bangladeshis/Rohingyas’, all states are instructed to set up Special Task Forces in every district with holding centres under the police to detain individuals while a verification report is awaited.

A verification report follows a process in which an apprehended person claims to be an Indian citizen from another state. While the suspected person is to be detained in the holding centre, the state - to which the suspect links himself- has 30 days to verify the credentials.

According to a Home Ministry reply, cited by the Indian Express, state governments have the power to identify illegal foreign nationals and provide for issuance of deportation orders as per the respective police manuals.

 What Does the Law Say?

 According to the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955, citizenship by birth is layered as per year of birth. Put simply, for persons born after 1987 citizenship of either parent is mandatory and for those born after 2003, both parents have to be citizens at the time of birth. Over years, various documents- birth certificates, school documents and even land documents-have been used to establish citizenship.

Add to this, the reversal of burden of proof with Foreigners Act, 1946. While the act defines a foreigner as not being an Indian citizen, it allows the government to restrict the movement of such suspects even as it directly states the onus of proving that such person is not a foreigner lies upon such person. This act allows for the operation of detention centres in India.

When a court, or a designated tribunal, notifies or declares an individual as being a foreigner due to lack of documentation, an order of deportation is issued to the person.