Thursday, 18 July 2019

We'll identify illegal immigrants living on every inch of country and deport them: Amit Shah

We'll identify illegal immigrants living on every inch of country and deport them: Amit Shah
Special Correspondent NEW DELHI,  JULY 17, 2019 16:56 IST
UPDATED: JULY 18, 2019 01:05 IST
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 Union Home Minister Amit Shah speaks in the Rajya Sabha on July 17, 2019. Photo: RSTV
Union Home Minister Amit Shah speaks in the Rajya Sabha on July 17, 2019. Photo: RSTV  

Home Minister was replying to a supplementary query by Samajwadi Party member Javed Ali Khan on whether the National Register of Citizens will be implemented in other States as well.
Answering a question on the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Home Minister Amit Shah told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that his government will ensure that all illegal immigrants are identified and deported.

Mr. Shah was replying to a supplementary question from Samajwadi Party MP Javed Ali Khan on whether the government intended to carry out an exercise on the lines of the NRC in Assam across the country.

Mr. Shah said the BJP manifesto, on the basis of which his government had been elected, had clearly said the government would identify “illegal immigrants” and “infiltrators” from every “inch” of the country and “they will be deported in accordance to prevailing international laws”. His statement drew loud applause from the treasury benches.

The original question on the NRC was raised by BJP MP Amar Shankar Sable who questioned the inordinate delay in publishing the final list in Assam.

Replying to Mr. Sable, Minister of State Nityanand Rai said the government was committed to ensure that an “error free” NRC is published where no genuine Indian citizen is left behind and no illegal immigrant is added.

Mr. Rai added that the Home Ministry and the President’s office have got over 25 lakh memoranda from those whose names have been excluded from the NRC. He said the government will be filing an appeal in the Supreme Court seeking more time to publish the register to ensure there are no errors.

Mr. Rai was also asked by Mr. Sable if the government has an estimate of the number of Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar living in the country. Mr. Rai said the government was working on collating the numbers but it was problematic because the Rohingya Muslims are living across the country.

Centre will deport illegal immigrants, says Amit Shah
Our Bureau  New Delhi | Updated on July 17, 2019  Published on July 17, 2019

Home Minister Amit Shah (File photo)

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In an apparent indication that the National Register of Citizens will soon be extended to all States as promised in the BJP’s manifesto, Home Minister Amit Shah said in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that the Centre will identify illegal immigrants staying in any part of the country and deport them as per international law.

He said this in respnse to SP member Javed Ali Khan’s question — whether the NRC will be implemented in other States as well. “It is a very good question. The NRC is part of the Assam Accord and was also in (BJP’s) election manifesto, based on which, the government has came to power. The government will identify illegal immigrants living on every inch of the country’s soil and will deport them as per international law,” Shah said.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said the Centre has received many representations for extending the NRC deadline in Assam. He cited a petition signed by about 25 lakh applicants submitted to the Centre and the President demanding an extension to correct anomalies. Agreeing that many genuine names have been left out and many bogus names registered, Rai said: “So the government has requested the (Supreme) Court to extend the time for this purpose.” He added that there will be some delay but the NRC will be implemented properly without any defects.

Published on July 17, 2019

Centre cites NGO’s letter for NRC re-verification
Vijaita Singh NEW DELHI ,  JULY 16, 2019 22:56 IST
UPDATED: JULY 16, 2019 23:04 IST
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 Verification process in progress for the National Register of Citizens in Guwahati last month. File
Verification process in progress for the National Register of Citizens in Guwahati last month. File   | Photo Credit: PTI

Group, which has supported the Citizenship Bill, denies ties to the BJP, demands an ‘error-free’ register
Seeking “sample re-verification” of Assam’s draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the Supreme Court, the Union Home Ministry, in its affidavit, attached a letter from an Assam-based NGO, Sachetan Nagrik Mancha, Axom (SNM), that had demanded an “error-free NRC”.

The Supreme Court has directed that the final NRC be published by July 31. If the fresh affidavit filed by the Ministry and the Assam government seeking “20% re-verification of names included in the final draft NRC in districts of Assam bordering Bangladesh and 10% verification in other districts” is admitted by the court, it would further push back the date of the final publication of the NRC. If the SC rejects the proposal, the Centre may take the legislative route, a senior government official said.

In an affidavit filed on Tuesday, the Ministry said the SNM has on June 29 forwarded an appeal to the President signed by more than “25 lakh indigenous Indian citizens of Assam” demanding an error-free NRC containing the names of all Indian citizens of Assam with complete exclusion of all “illegal migrants”.

SNM secretary Atul Burman told The Hindu that the NGO was formed in 2013 and it worked for “national integration” and denied it was aligned to the BJP.

“There are 5,800 members in our organisation. When the NRC was being updated, we conducted 442 meetings in Assam. We are not associated with the BJP; people from all communities — Hindu, Muslim, Christian — are part of it [SNM],” Mr. Burman said.

While several groups in Assam have vociferously protested against the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019 that would benefit Hindus excluded from the NRC, the NGO supported it. The Bill lapsed with the dissolution of the previous Lok Sabha.

Shah’s statement
On July 1, Union Home Minister Amit Shah told the Rajya Sabha that the government would bring in a Bill to provide citizenship to “Hindus refugees” left out of the NRC. He was responding to the Trinamool’s Derek O’Brien who raised the issue of the probability of 23 lakh Bengali Hindus losing citizenship when the final NRC is published.

In its affidavit, the Ministry cast aspersions on the officials who initially conducted the verification drive. Out of 3.29 crore applicants, around 40 lakh people were excluded from the final draft NRC that was published on July 30 last year. Another one lakh were excluded in another list published last month. Of these, 36 lakh people filed claims against the exclusion whereas objections were filed against inclusion of 2 lakh persons.

“There have been instances where field officers have been arrested for taking bribes for entering names in the NRC list,” the affidavit said.

The Ministry said apprehensions had been created in the minds of the citizens which could impact the “social harmony and law and order” of the State as the final publication of the NRC would be the culmination of the entire exercise.

“The list prepared after this exercise will be final and will have critical impact on the people whose names may not be included in the same. It is therefore, pertinent that the exercise of sample re-verification must necessarily follow before the publication of the final list,” the affidavit said.

Over 1 lakh foreigners
Over one lakh people have been declared foreigners by tribunals set up in Assam till March, Union Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. At present, 100 Foreigners' Tribunals (FTs) are functional in Assam, Mr. Reddy said. The FTs, quasi-judicial bodies unique to Assam, have been operational since 1985. “Up to March 31, 2019, a total of 1,17,164 people have been declared foreigners by tribunals,” he said in his reply to a written question of Congress MP Abdul Khaleque.

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