10 inmates of detention centres in Assam died in last one year: Government

Ten inmates of Assam's six detention centres, where declared or convicted 'foreigners' are kept, died in last one year, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said as many as 3,331 people have been lodged at the six detention centres in Assam, while another such facility with a capacity to put 3,000 people is under construction in the state.

"Ten inmates of the six detention centres in Assam, where declared foreigners or convicted foreigners are kept, died in different hospitals from March 1, 2019 to February 29, 2020," he said in a written reply.

Foreigners or convicted foreigners are kept at the detention centres.

There are six detention centres in Assam having capacity of 3,331 people. They are Tezpur (797 people), Silchar (479), Dibrugarh (680), Jorhat (670), Kokrajhar (335) and Goalpara (370 people), Rai said.

He also said there is no National Register of Citizens (NRC) detention camp in Assam.

During the last one year, from March 1, 2019 to February 29, 2020, three teams of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) have visited the detention centers in Assam and interacted with the declared foreign nationals, the minister added.