Assam orders five 'declared foreigners' to leave state within 24 hours

Sonitpur foreigners tribunal had on October 24 declared the five persons as foreign citizens

The administration in Assam’s Sonitpur district has ordered five declared foreigners to leave the state within 24 hours by invoking the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950.

This is the first known invocation of the Act since the Assam cabinet approved its implementation earlier this year.

The five people – four women and a man, who are reportedly from two families – have been identified as residents of Dhobokata village in Sonitpur district.

The Sonitpur foreigners tribunal had on October 24 declared the five persons as foreign citizens in separate cases filed by the Tezpur superintendent of police (border) in 2006.

As quoted by Indian Express, the order stated that the DC is of the opinion that, as “Declared Foreigners”, their “presence in Assam/India is detrimental to the interest of the general public and also for the internal security of the state”.

The notices also directed the authorities to delete the names of the five persons from the electoral rolls, cancel their ration cards, freeze or cancel their Aadhaar cards and remove them from all government schemes.

 What is  Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950?

The Act was enacted by the Parliament in the early years of independence to address a pressing crisis in Assam. After the Partition in 1947, Assam witnessed a massive influx of immigrants from East Bengal, which later became East Pakistan and then Bangladesh. The migration was largely driven by communal violence, displacement and the open border.

The Act was passed on 1 March 1950. It gave the Centre the power to remove any person or group from Assam if their presence harmed public interest or affected the rights of Scheduled Tribes. The law also allowed the government to give these powers to local officers, such as district commissioners, so they could issue expulsion orders directly, without going through the courts.

In October 2024, the Supreme Court of India upheld Section 6A of the Citizenship Act and clearly said that the 1950 Act was still valid