No point in raising infiltration issue in house: Speaker

Assam Speaker Pranab Kumar Gogoi today said unless the state's international border with Bangladesh is sealed, there is no point in raising the infiltration issue in the House for any solution.
"Till the border is not sealed by fencing like that in Punjab, there is no point shouting here (to stop infiltration)," Gogoi said during the Question Hour.
He was commenting during a discussion on the query raised by AGP MLA Phani Bhusan Choudhury on implementation of Assam Accord and updation of National Register of Citizens.
When the Minister for Implementation of Assam Accord, Bhumidhar Barman, said there is no proper definition of an Assamese and the government is trying to locate and deport illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, Gogoi said "You keep trying."

Former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanata said unless there is a bilateral deportation agreement between India and Bangladesh, the neighbouring country would not accept the identified illegal immigrants in Assam.
"During AGP government we tried but could not do it. So now I request the present government to talk to the Centre about this," he added.

Barman said 71,201 foreigners have been detected in Assam since 1985, of which 38,186 came after 1971 and they are eligible for deportation.
"Out of this, 2,448 people have been deported and 68 are kept in detention centre. The rest are either absconding or dead."

He said the total length of Assam-Bangladesh border is 267.3 km, out of which 44.59 km are river border.