Fourteen of the 15 persons declared foreigners by the Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) in Nagaon were taken out of the Matia transit camp on Friday morning, following a December 17 order from the Nagaon district administration.

The order had directed them to leave Assam within 24 hours or face removal by the state government.

Sources in Goalpara said the 14 individuals, declared foreigners over a period of time by the FT, were taken out of the Matia camp around 10.30am in a vehicle, accompanied by BSF and police personnel.

Though there has been no official confirmation regarding their whereabouts, visuals of the foreigners being moved out of the camp have circulated widely on social media. Sources indicate that the process of their expulsion from Assam is underway.

A BSF official said he had no reports of the development. However, sources believe the group was likely being taken towards Mankachar in the neighbouring district,
about 70km away, for eventual expulsion from the country. The Foreigners’ Tribunal had earlier declared all of them Bangladeshi nationals.

Among those taken out were eight men and six women. The identity of one declared foreigner remains unverified.

In his December 17 order, Nagaon deputy commissioner Devasish Sharma, acting under the authority of the Assam government, directed the declared foreigners to leave the territory of Assam within 24 hours of receiving the notice. The order, issued under the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950, specified that they exit through Dhubri, South Salmara-Mankachar, or Sribhumi — routes connecting to Bangladesh — citing their presence as “detrimental to the interest of the general public and internal security of the state.”

The Assam Cabinet in September had approved a new standard operating
procedure, authorising district commissioners to manage the identification
and deportation of foreigners under the 1950 act.