Anti-migrant sentiment has long festered in Assam, home to tens of thousands of people from Bangladesh. Locals say the refugees threaten the state's culture and tradition and are cornering resources, including land.
A crackdown on illegal migrants in India's Assam state risks depriving millions of Muslim citizens and long-term refugees from Bangladesh of their right to live there, activists said. Officials say they are updating Assam's National Register of Citizens (NRC) for the first time in six decades to identify illegal Bangladeshi migrants who are overwhelming the state administration.
"Ostensibly, it is to identify foreigners but, in the process, they are targeting Muslims who are Indian citizens and refugees who have lived here for many years but have no proof," said Aman Wadud, a local rights lawyer. "The state has made it very difficult for them, by limiting the type of documents they can submit as proof of citizenship." Wadud said nearly 5 million Muslims, mostly married women, and Bangladeshi refugees who have lived in Assam for decades, risk being left off the register because officials will not recognise the proof of ancestry documents they have submitted. Assam has refused to accept documents validated by village councils, after initially saying they were acceptable. These are often the only documents that rural Muslim women have, as they seldom have birth or school leaving certificates, Wadud said.
A crackdown on illegal migrants in India's Assam state risks depriving millions of Muslim citizens and long-term refugees from Bangladesh of their right to live there, activists said. Officials say they are updating Assam's National Register of Citizens (NRC) for the first time in six decades to identify illegal Bangladeshi migrants who are overwhelming the state administration.
"Ostensibly, it is to identify foreigners but, in the process, they are targeting Muslims who are Indian citizens and refugees who have lived here for many years but have no proof," said Aman Wadud, a local rights lawyer. "The state has made it very difficult for them, by limiting the type of documents they can submit as proof of citizenship." Wadud said nearly 5 million Muslims, mostly married women, and Bangladeshi refugees who have lived in Assam for decades, risk being left off the register because officials will not recognise the proof of ancestry documents they have submitted. Assam has refused to accept documents validated by village councils, after initially saying they were acceptable. These are often the only documents that rural Muslim women have, as they seldom have birth or school leaving certificates, Wadud said.
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