(a) whether the Government has any figure on the number of Muslims who have illegally entered India since 2010;
(b) if so, the details thereof, year-wise; and
(c) the rationale for keeping Muslims out of the purview of the Citizenship Bill?
(a) whether the Government has any figure on the number of Muslims who have illegally entered India since 2010;
(b) if so, the details thereof, year-wise; and
(c) the rationale for keeping Muslims out of the purview of the Citizenship Bill?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
(SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)
(a) to (c): A statement is laid on the table of the House.
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Statement Referred to in The Reply To Parts (a) to (c) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *36 for 5th Feb, 2019 Regarding Illegal Immigration.
(a) & (b): Since illegal migrants enter into India in a clandestine and surreptitious manner and without valid travel documents, accurate data regarding such migrants is not available.
(c): The object of The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 is to facilitate Indian Citizenship for migrants from those six minority communities namely Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who have been compelled to seek shelter in India due to persecution on grounds of religion or fear of such persecution and who may not have valid documents.
Legal migrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh including those belonging to majority community from these countries are also eligible to acquire Indian citizenship irrespective of their religion or date of entry into India if they fulfill the given eligibility criteria.
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