Centre had asked states to set up detention centres in 2009, 2012, 2014 and 2018: MHA sources

A day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah clarified on detention centres in India, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) sources on Wednesday stated that the Centre had in 2009, 2012, 2014 and 2018 asked all the states to set up detention centres. As per the MHA sources, there are six detention centres in Assam--Goalpara, Kokrajhar, Silchar, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, and Tezpur, till November 28. On December 3, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kishan Reddy's replied on the detention centres to a question by Assam MP Badaruddin Ajmal. Ajmal had asked in the Lok Sabha about the total number of detention centres in Assam.

There are a total of 970 people in these detention centres of which 646 are males and 324 females, added the MHA sources. Women and men are kept in separate rooms and are given basic facilities. There have been no reports on incidents of rape of women. People are allowed to visit these centres to meet their acquaintances, further stated the MHA sources.

In Karnataka, a total of 114 Bangladeshis have been identified who are residing illegally. The state government had informed the MHA that they would soon complete the work of setting up a detention centre. 

On Tuesday (December 24), Shah had clarified that there is no connection between detention centres and National Register of Citizens (NRC) or Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), adding that misinformation is being spread on the matter. He added that no detention centres were created since the Narendra Modi government came to power.

In an interview with news agency ANI, Shah asserted, "There is no connection between the detention centres and NRC or CAA. The centres have been there for years and are for illegal immigrants. Misinformation is being spread on this."

Responding to a question, the Union Minister had stated that the government has given time of six months to people who have been excluded from Assam`s NRC to approach the Foreigners Tribunal. "We have also made several tribunals for this and nobody has been kept in the detention centres. 19 lakh people who have been excluded from the list there are staying at their home only," Shah told ANI.

Shah had said there is only one detention centre which has been in existence for years and probably there were no other such centres. "No detention centres have been made after the Modi-led government came to power," he said. Shah said if a person without valid documents is caught in America, he or she will be kept in the detention centres or any related arrangement and the process of contacting the respective country`s embassy begins.