By IANS,
New Delhi : A total of 71,035 foreigners were found over-staying in India as of Dec 31 last year, parliament was informed Tuesday. Those from Bangladesh and Afghanistan headed the list.
Bangladeshis accounted for 24,364 of the total followed by 13,744 from Afghanistan, Minister of State for Home Affairs M. Ramachandran told the Lok Sabha in a written statement.
Others in the list were from Pakistan (8,037), the US (2,168), Iraq (2,038), Sri Lanka (1,956), Nigeria (1,528), Myanmar (1,402) and Britain (1,094).
The minister classified 2,398 as “others” or those without specified nationality.
“There are also reports of foreign nationals having entered the country without valid travel documents,” he said.
Without giving details, Ramachandran said some instances of illegal activities by such foreigners had been reported.
In the case of Bangladeshis, he said there were procedures to “sending back then and there illegal immigrants intercepted at the border while entering India unauthorisedly”.
The minister said suspected foreigners in Assam were referred to the Foreigners Tribunals to determine their nationality.
He said 36 such tribunals were functioning in Assam.
He added that the central government was implementing a scheme that would facilitate tracking of foreigners by integrating and sharing information captured during issuing of visas and immigration checks.