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22 Myanmar nationals deported since August 2017, says GoI
22 Myanmar nationals have been deported since August 2017, the Ministry of Home Affairs of India told the Rajya Sabha.
“India does not discriminate between foreign migrants on the basis of religion. However, as per information available, 22 Myanmar nationals have been deported since August 2017 after following due process,” MoS (Home) Kiren Rijiju said in reply to a query.
Earlier in August 2017, the Ministry had issued an advisory for identification and deportation of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar.
The government of India estimates state that there are nearly 40,000 Rohingya Muslims across India with the highest number in Jammu and Kashmir. They were forced to leave their homes after a crackdown by the army in their home state of Rakhine in Myanmar.
Referring to the much contested Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, the Ministry in another reply said that 1,595 Pakistani and 391 Afghanistan nationals of all religions were granted citizenship in the last three years.
“Provision for capturing online citizenship data of migrants from minority communities namely Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christains was introduced in 2018. As per the available data, 295 Hindus and Sikhs from Afghanistan and Pakistan have been granted Indian citizenship since then,” MOS Rijiju said.
According to MHA, 187 long term visas were issued to Bangladeshi nationals between 2011 and January 8, 2019, while 34,817 LTVs were granted to Pakistani nationals in the same period.
(With inputs from Indian Express)
