Bangladesh consular access to Assam jails stalled despite MEA approval
As per sources, in the past month, the Home and Political Department has not responded to four requests for jail visits by Office of the Assistant High Commissioner in Guwahati.
Office of the Assistant High Commissioner in Guwahati.
Guwahati, Jan 17: Despite the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) giving its approval, the State Government has not responded to letters from the Office of the Assistant High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Guwahati seeking permission for consular visits to jails in the State.
Sources said that in the past month, the Home and Political Department has not responded to four requests for jail visits by Office of the Assistant High Commissioner in Guwahati, despite MEA approval.
While three requests have already expired without any reply since December 2025, the fourth is set to lapse shortly. All four letters, accompanied by MEA approval, were sent in December.
“This is the first time something of this nature has happened since the Consular Office came into being in 2017,” a source said.
Consular access is required to verify the antecedents of individuals declared Bangladeshi nationals by the Court. Once verified, the Consular Office issues the requisite Travel Permit (TP) to facilitate deportation for those individuals.
According to records, more than 650 TPs have been issued by the Office of the Assistant High Commissioner in Guwahati so far to facilitate repatriation of Bangladeshi nationals in the last eight years.
At present, about 45 declared Bangladeshi nationals are lodged in four detention facilities across the State. Guwahati Central Jail houses 16 such inmates, Dhubri district jail has 12, while the rest are in Karimganj district jail and the Matia detention camp at Goalpara.
The development comes amid the State Government’s push for a ‘push back’ policy with those privy to the development blaming it on the strained Indo-Bangla relationship.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma recently stated that all individuals declared foreigners by the Foreigners Tribunals (FTs) would be pushed back within a week.
According to official figures, between May 2021 and November 2025, 1,517 foreigners were deported. During the same period, 59,757 cases were disposed of by the FTs, while 77,883 remain pending. Of these, 30,264 persons were declared foreigners and 15,359 were declared “not foreigners”. Currently, 100 FTs are functioning in Assam.