They will continue to have their rights till final decision
Staff Reporter / New Delhi
India’s Ministry of External Affairs today made it clear that the people excluded from the NRC list in Assam will not be detained. MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said they will continue to enjoy all the rights or entitlements as before till they have exhausted all the remedies available under the law.
He said exclusion from the NRC has no implication on the rights of an individual resident in Assam. He said it does not make the excluded person Stateless or a foreigner. Mr Kumar said, the State of Assam has assured the provision of free legal assistance to any person excluded from the NRC list.
The spokesperson’s comments came in the wake of commentaries in sections of foreign media about certain aspects of the final NRC, which he said are incorrect.
He also said that to expedite the process of receiving applications for inclusion, the Assam government is establishing 200 more tribunals.
Mr Kumar said, India, as the world’s largest democracy, has firmly enshrined equal rights for all and respect for the rule of law in its Constitution.
NRC: UN refugee chief urges India to ensure no one left stateless
AGENCIES / BERLIN
Top UN refugee official has urged India to ensure that no one is left stateless by the exclusion of nearly 2 million people from a citizenship list in Assam.
Filippo Grandi, UN high commissioner for refugees, voiced his concern in a statement. He said that “any process that could leave large numbers of people without a nationality would be an enormous blow to global efforts to eradicate statelessness.”
He urged India to ensure no one ends up stateless, “including by ensuring adequate access to information, legal aid, and legal recourse in accordance with the highest standards of due process.