RTI reply - Over 70,000 foreigners staying illegally in India
19 Aug, 2013The reply to an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has revealed that there are a large number of foreign nationals illegally staying in India. The reply to the application, provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), states that over 70,000 foreign nationals are staying in the country even after the expiry of their visas. This figure pertains to the records till December 31, 2011.
The reply also states that the central government, after sensing the impending danger of terrorism, had issued orders to all the state governments in November, 2012 to instruct their police forces for arresting all the foreign nationals staying illegally in the respective states. The arrests were to be made under Section 4 of the Passport Act.
A senior intelligence official expressed his apprehensions that some illegal immigrants from Pakistan might be hiding in different parts of the country with changed identities and might get involved in some terrorist activities in the country.