Citizenship law: Impossible to get accurate data on illegal migrants, they enter clandestinely: Center To SC

Responding to the court’s query on the estimated influx of illegal immigrants into India, including but not limited to Assam after March 25, 1971, the Center said illegal immigrants are entering the country without valid travel documents in a clandestine and surreptitious manner.

New Delhi: The Center has told the Supreme Court that it is not possible to collect accurate data about such illegal migrants living in different parts of the country as the entry of illegal immigrants into India is “clandestine and surreptitious”. In its affidavit filed before the top court examining the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act regarding illegal immigrants in Assam, the Center said 17,861 people have been granted citizenship under this provision.

On December 7, the Court had directed the Home Ministry to provide data on the inflow of illegal migrants into Assam and the North-Eastern states after March 25, 1971 (after Bangladesh’s declaration of independence) and to provide data-based disclosures under various circumstances. heads, including the grant of citizenship to immigrants at different time periods, the functioning of the established Foreigners Tribunals etc. A Constitution Bench passed the order while hearing petitions challenging Section 6A of the Citizenship Act.

In response to the court’s query on December 7, the Center said 32,381 people have been traced as foreigners on the orders of the Foreigners’ Tribunal with reference to the period 1966-1971.

Responding to the court’s query on the estimated influx of illegal immigrants into India, including but not limited to Assam after March 25, 1971, the Center said illegal immigrants are entering the country without valid travel documents in a clandestine and surreptitious manner.

“The detection, detention and deportation of such illegally staying aliens is a complex, continuous process. Since the entry of such foreigners into the country is clandestine and surreptitious, it is not possible to collect accurate data about such illegal immigrants residing in different parts of the country,” the Center said.

The government said that in the past five years, from 2017 to 2022, 14,346 foreigners have been deported. Putting in some figures, the Center said that there are currently 100 foreigner tribunals functioning in Assam and over 3.34 lakh cases have been disposed of as of October 31, 2023 and still 97,714 as of October 31.

Section 6A of the Citizenship Act

Section 6A of the Citizenship Act covers illegal immigrants in Assam. The provision was included in the Citizenship Act as a special provision on the citizenship of people covered by the Assam Accord.

It says those who came to Assam from specified areas, including Bangladesh, on or after January 1, 1966 but before March 25, 1971, in accordance with the Citizenship Act amended in 1985, and have since become residents of the northeastern state, must register at under section 18 for acquiring Indian citizenship.

As a result, the provision sets March 25, 1971 as the cut-off date for granting citizenship to Bengali migrants in Assam.