Deport illegal immigrants: Centre to states

New Delhi, August 13

The Centre has said illegal immigrants like the Rohingyas pose grave security challenges as they may be recruited by terror groups, and asked state governments to identify and deport them.

In a communication to all states, the Union Home Ministry said the rise of terrorism over the last few decades has become a serious concern for most nations as illegal migrants are more vulnerable to getting recruited by terrorist organisations.

“These illegal immigrants not only infringe on the rights of Indian citizens, but also pose grave security challenges,” the communication, sent last week, said.

Infiltration of (the Rohingyas) from Rakhine state of Myanmar into Indian territory, especially in recent years, besides being burden on the limited resources of the country also aggravates security challenges posed to India, the ministry said.

Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said in Parliament on August 9 that according to available data, more than 14,000 Rohingyas, registered with the UNHCR, were staying in India. “However, some inputs indicate that around 40,000 Rohingyas are staying in India illegally and they are largely located in Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan,” he had said. 

On November 16, 2016, the government had informed the Parliament that according to available inputs, there were around 20 million (two crore) illegal Bangladeshi migrants staying in India. — PTI