Assam Moves to Fast-Track ‘Pushback’ of Declared Foreigners, Government Signals Hardline Shift on Illegal Immigration

The Assam government has announced a decisive shift in its approach to illegal immigration, declaring that individuals identified as foreigners by the Foreigners’

Tribunals will now be pushed back into Bangladesh within a week of such a declaration.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the move is intended to prevent prolonged legal delays and mark a tougher, non-compromising stance that the state believes was long overdue.

Background: A Long-Standing Impasse

For decades, Assam has grappled with the issue of illegal immigration, particularly from neighbouring Bangladesh, which has shaped the state’s politics, demography and social tensions.

While thousands of people have been declared foreigners by Foreigners’ Tribunals — quasi-judicial bodies set up to determine citizenship — actual deportation has remained rare.

Under the earlier system, those declared foreigners could challenge tribunal orders in the Gauhati High Court and even the Supreme Court of India.

Deportation also required a lengthy diplomatic process involving verification by Bangladeshi authorities, resulting in years of detention, bail, and eventual release — often within Assam itself.

Revival of a 75-Year-Old Law

The turning point, according to the state government, came with the revival of the 1950 Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, a law that had largely remained dormant for decades.

In September, the Assam government framed a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) under this Act, asserting that recent Supreme Court observations allowed its use.

Since May, the government has been implementing what it calls a “pushback” policy — an informal mechanism of escorting declared foreigners across the international border without waiting for a bilateral deportation treaty or prolonged verification.

‘One Week After Tribunal Verdict’

Explaining the rationale, Sarma said that once a Foreigners’ Tribunal declares someone a foreign national, they will be expelled within seven days.

The objective, he said, is to prevent the process from being “stretched indefinitely” through appeals.

“The moment the Foreigners’ Tribunal identifies them, we will push them back.

Once this begins, the non-compromising attitude against foreigners that Assam needed for a very long time will gain momentum,” the Chief Minister said while reviewing his government’s performance over the past year.

He claimed that around 2,000 people have already been pushed back in the last three months, and that this approach has now been formally adopted as state policy.

Ending What the Government Calls a ‘Systemic Loophole’

Sarma argued that until now, the state lacked any effective instrument once a person was declared a foreigner. Detention centres and designated jails, he said, became a dead end.

“They would be kept in jail, get bail after a couple of years, and continue to live in Assam. In some cases, they received more facilities than in their own villages,” he said.

According to the Chief Minister, the new policy establishes a clear principle: a person declared a foreigner has no right to remain in India.

Bypassing Diplomatic Hurdles

One of the most controversial aspects of the policy is the government’s assertion that it has bypassed the need for a formal deportation treaty with Bangladesh, long seen as essential for lawful and sustainable repatriation.

“With this system, we can expel anywhere between 10,000 and 50,000 foreigners, provided we can identify them,” Sarma said, underlining the scale of the government’s ambition.

Present Situation and the Road Ahead

Foreigners’ Tribunals continue to function as the primary mechanism for determining citizenship, often based on references from border police or ‘D-voter’ markings in electoral rolls.

What has changed is what happens next.

The Assam government now sees expulsion, not detention, as the endpoint. Sarma made it clear that while evictions of encroachments marked the government’s first term, the next phase will be defined by the number of foreigners expelled from the state.

A Policy with Far-Reaching Implications

The pushback policy has already sparked debate among legal experts and rights groups, who question its conformity with due process and international norms.

The government, however, insists it has both legal sanction and political mandate.

As Assam moves ahead with this aggressive approach, the issue of illegal immigration — unresolved for generations — is set to enter a new and contentious phase, one that could reshape not only border management but also the legal and humanitarian framework governing citizenship in India.

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