Monitor movement of foreigners, deport illegal migrants within timelines: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court on Monday expressed concern that despite there being exhaustive guidelines to identify and deport "illegal migrants" and foreign nationals overstaying in India, there seems to be no positive action from the side of the State government in implementing the same. .The safety and security of a country lies in the proper implementation of procedures relating to the entry and exit of persons from other countries, Justice M Dhandapani remarked. .Due to a lack of coordinated efforts between the government authorities and the State law enforcing agency, the way has been paved for illegal migrants to continue staying in India and indulging in nefarious activities, he observed further. .The Court added that many foreigners enter India under the guise of business/employment or tourism only to overstay beyond the permitted time. Such acts should be nipped in the bud lest they have major ramifications on economic stability and the security of the country, the Court commented..The Court noted that in Chennai, Trichy, Coimbatore and Madurai, there were about 13,289 persons who were stated to be overstaying beyond their visa period, as per data submitted by the International Check Post (ICP).."The above number reflects of the enormity of the persons, who are illegally staying in the country without any valid permission and who are to have been deported on the basis of the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs. But, there seems to be no positive action coming from the side of the State Government in identifying the foreign nationals, who are staying within the State without holding a valid permission/visa," the order stated..The judge went on to opine that the "security of our motherland" is being jeopardised due to the lethargic approach of the government in not adhering to the guidelines framed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for the deportation or repatriation of foreign nationals who stay in India without a valid visa or permission.."Not only the said individuals infract the law, by being in the Indian territory without any valid visa, many of such individuals misuse the stay and indulge in very many nefarious activities which are detrimental to the nation as a whole...The act of the law enforcing agency of the State in not adhering to the guidelines framed by the Ministry of Home Affairs in letter and spirit, relating to deportation/repatriation of such of those foreign nationals is causing grave concern to the safety and security of the country and, in fact, very many foreign nationals are indulging in acts, which are prejudicial to the interests of the country, which acts, are both economical/financial and also terrorist related activities," the Court said..The judge went on to issue various guidelines for the State to follow in the matter, including the following:.The Foreigners Regional Registration Officers (FRRO)/ICP shall communicate fortnightly, the entry of any foreign national within the State with details of the passport and visa as also their nationality to the State Law Enforcing Agency; Illegal migrants who are identified by the State Law Enforcing Agency shall be forthwith sent to detention camps/holding centres as per the guidelines framed by the MHA; On illegal migrants being brought to detention camps/holding homes, necessary action shall be taken to deport/repatriate illegal migrants to their country of birth within the time prescribed in the guidelines; The State Law Enforcing Agency shall devise a mechanism to have outposts at the FRRO/ICP points. This is so that once foreigners enter Indian territory and are registered by the FRRO/ ICP, these authorities can share data on such foreigners with the State law enforcement agency who shall coordinate with hostels/rest houses and collect data about the registration of such foreigners. The State authorities shall also monitor their departure. The hostels/rest houses are to mandatorily inform about the departure of the foreign nationals; The law enforcing agency of the State shall take steps to identify foreign nationals who are lodged in various prisons throughout the State and illegal migrants confined in prison for any crime and take appropriate steps to have the person deported to his/her country of birth immediately on completion of the sentence; Steps should be taken to deport foreign nationals lodged in prisons throughout the State for criminal acts committed during their visit to India upon the completion of their sentence; Police authorities monitoring the movement of the foreign nationals within their jurisdiction through their stay at hotels/rest houses shall record the exit of the foreign national from their jurisdiction and the record of such exit of the foreign nationals shall be communicated to the District Headquarters once in a fortnight; The Director-General of Police shall create a separate wing in each district to monitor the movement of the foreign nationals within the said district in relation to the report submitted by the concerned jurisdictional police authorities; The MHA is directed to explore the possibilities of framing appropriate laws to keep the illegal migrants as prisoners in cases where petty offences are committed by illegal immigrants repeatedly for the purpose of staying within the territorial limits of India. The MHA was directed to examine whether such persons can be imprisoned within the confines of detention camps/holding camps, so that on completion of sentence, the said individuals could be deported back to their country of birth. A policy on this aspect should be framed within three months from the date of receipt of a copy of the order. Where serious crimes are committed by illegal migrants/foreign nationals who are staying in the country without valid permission, the guidelines issued by the MHA as to their deportation should be scrupulously adhered to. The concerned authority and law enforcing agency shall coordinate and take necessary steps for the deportation of foreign nationals/illegal immigrants who are serving prison sentence by taking action three months prior to the release of the persons in accordance with the guidelines issued by the MHA..The Court was dealing with petitions filed by Sri Lankan, Nigerian, Chinese, Iranian and Bangladeshi nationals who were either overstaying beyond their visa period or had entered India without proper immigration or visa documents. .All the petitions were dismissed, with the Court observing that many of the petitioners, who were illegal immigrants, had been residing in India for decades without being deported due to lacunae on the part of the government."Allowing such lacunae to continue further would be nothing but aiding and abetting the commission of a crime, which is impermissible and allowing such act to prosper without dealing it in accordance with law would lead to enormous ramifications on very many fronts and would put in peril the safety and security of the citizens of the country and in course of time, the Indian sub-continent would be grazing grounds for the predators of illegal migrants with a devious mind to take over the country, which would lead to a pre-independence scenario. Therefore, this Court is not inclined to accept the plea of the petitioners for grant of bail," the Court said. .Citing similar reasons, the Court also rejected the plea moved by a petitioner to relax a condition imposed by a lower court requiring him to stay at the Trichy Special Refugees Camp."The said condition, could in no way be termed to be onerous and, therefore, this Court is of the considered view that no interference is warranted with the same", the judge opined.