Statelessness, Detention Centres, and the Otherisation
foreigners in consultation with the Government of Bangladesh, 36 the Indian
Government claims that the ‘entire process of the NRC’ is an ‘internal matter’. 37
In the absence of any bilateral agreement or understanding facilitating the
deportation, it is becoming clear that the fate of the declared foreigners will be
sealed within the four corners of the detention centres. 38 This indefinite detention
of people brings out the oppression furthered through law and conveniently allows
the state to couch the anti-immigrant politics within the confines of ‘due process
of law’.
DETENTION CENTRES AND THE ‘OTHERS’
While the Government denies the existence of NRC detention camps in Assam,
the facts on the ground prove otherwise. 39 The state of Assam has six detention
camps of its own and houses over 3,000 people. 40 To date, there have been over
30 reported deaths in the detention centres but they remain nothing more than mere
statistics. 41 With the COVID-19 outbreak and rising concerns about detention
centres becoming hotspots, the Supreme Court ordered the release of prisoners
under detention for more than two years on a personal bond of INR 5,000 and two
sureties. 42 However, only 308 foreigners were released out of the 802 present. 43
This trend of indefinite detention of migrants and refugees has caught the
attention of the world since 2012 through the Australian Government’s offshore
detention policy. 44 Refugees who successfully reach the Australian shore by boat
are detained on Christmas Island or one of two remote Pacific islands, Nauru and
Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. The Australian state policy has attracted
widespread condemnation both within the domestic and international spheres. In
fact, the inhuman living conditions in these centres have been alleged as an act of
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha (n 2) 40.
‘NRC Updation Internal Matter for India, Won’t Affect Bangladesh: Foreign Secretary
Shringla’, The Print (online, 2 March 2020) <https://theprint.in/diplomacy/nrc-updationinternal-matter-for-india-wont-affect-bangladesh-foreign-secretary-shringla/374217/> .
Shoaib Daniyal, ‘Bangladesh Government Expresses Concerns Over Assam’s NRC Process
for
the
First
Time’,
Scroll.in
(online,
18
July
2019)
<https://scroll.in/latest/930979/bangladesh-government-expresses-concerns-over-assamsnrc-process-for-first-time>.
JP Yadav and Umanand Jaiswal, ‘Detention Centres: Is PM Modi Saying the Truth, the Whole
Truth and Nothing but the Truth?’, The Telegraph (online, 22 December 2019)
<https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/detention-centers-is-pm-modi-saying-the-truth-thewhole-truth-and-nothing-but-the-truth/cid/1729496>.
Rahul Karmakar, ‘30 “Foreigners” Dead in Assam’s Detention Centres’, The Hindu (online,
12 April 2020) <https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/30-foreigners-dead-in-assamsdetention centres/article31325045.ece> (‘30 Foreigners Dead’); ‘Govt Lodged 3,331 People
in Assam Detention Centres, 10 Died Last Year’, The Business Standard (online, 17 March
2020)
<https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/10-inmates-of-detentioncentres-in-assam-died-in-last-one-year-govt-120031700816_1.html>.
Karmaker, ‘30 Foreigners Dead’ (n 40).
Re: Contagion of COVID 19 Virus in Prisons [2020] Suo Motu Writ Petition (Civil) (India).
Rahul Karmakar, ‘308 “Foreigners” Released From Assam Detention Centres’, The Hindu
(online, 20 May 2020) <https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/308foreigners-released-from-assam-detention-centres/article31632918.ece>.
See Ben Saul, ‘Dark Justice: Australia’s Indefinite Detention of Refugees on Security
Grounds Under International Human Rights Law’ (2012) 13(2) Melbourne Journal of
International Law 1, 2–4.
263