NEW DELHI, March 14 - India has no specific bilateral agreement for deportation of illegal migrants to Bangladesh, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju has clarified.
The Centre on Wednesday clarified that there is no specific treaty or agreement with the Government of Bangladesh regarding repatriation of its citizens, who have illegally entered into India.
Ever since the updating of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), a debate has started over the possibility of deporting illegal Bangladeshi migrants back to the neighbouring country. But lack of an agreement with Bangladesh may hamper the prospect of deporting the illegal migrants.
Last week, the Centre has disclosed that it has no proposal to sign a fresh pact with Bangladesh concerning repatriation of the illegal migrants to the neighbouring country.
Meanwhile, Rijiju explained in a Rajya Sabha reply the deportation process. Details of the suspected illegal migrants, who are apprehended in India, are shared with the respective foreign embassies through the Ministry of External Affairs for nationality verification. Such illegal migrants are deported after their nationality is confirmed and travel documents are issued by the respective Foreign Missions.
Detention and deportation of illegal immigrants is a continuous process. Pending deportation, apprehended illegal migrants are kept in detention centre. Details regarding number of persons declared as illegal migrants and detained in detention centre in various states are not centrally maintained, Rijiju said.
Meanwhile, in reply to a question by Ripun Borah, the Minister confirmed that India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN convention relating to the Status of Refugees. There is no specific National Law to exclusively deal with such foreigners who migrate to India to seek refuge.
Meanwhile, during the last five years only 7,056 illegal Bangladeshi nationals have been deported to Bangladeshi, Rijiju disclosed.
The highest number of 5234 illegal Bangladeshi migrants were deported in 2013, while in 2017 only 51 were deported, the Minister replied.
