Assam activists want ‘detention camps’ for foreigners closed

New Delhi, June 29 (IANS) Activists from Assam's Barak Valley on Friday urged the Central government to close the "detention camps" set up for those identified as "illegal immigrants" and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to do away with these camps during a visit to the state in 2014.

The activists, under the banner of North-East Linguistic and Ethnic Co-ordination Committee, who were in Delhi on Friday, also extended their support to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016.

"Prime Minister Modi had visited Barak Valley in 2014 and promised us that the detention camps will be removed, but they are still there," said Vivek Poddar, Convener of the Co-ordination Committee, at a press conference here.

He said that people, including the elderly, were living in "inhuman conditions" in the camps.

Shubranshu Bhattacharya, an activist, said there were six detention camps in Assam.

"There is a 102-years-old man in the camp and his health is deteriorating everyday. Some of those detained are living in the camps for the past three years," he said.

The activists said they had also met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to apprise him of their problems.

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