Home dept calls them threat to internal security of Maharashtra;
Middlemen enabling illegal stay also on government’s hit-list
With the ‘Marathi manoos’ plank off-limits for the state government, it has decided to go after migrants of another kind — foreign, illegal and largely Bangladeshi. The ruling party, which had traditionally ridiculed the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) campaign to clean up Mumbai of its ‘foreign’ elements, has now jumped on to the same bandwagon.
The home department has decided to crack the whip on foreigners living illegally in the state. Citing infiltration from Bangladesh as a serious threat to internal security, home minister RR Patil has ordered the police department to deport them on an urgent basis.
In recent times, investigations into terror acts such as Mumbai’s 26/11 and the German Bakery blast in Pune have pointed to local help for recce-ing foreigners — consider the case of David Coleman Headley, for one. While some middlemen may not have known of the designs of the terror operatives, inadvertent help for a strike can be prevented by measures to remove elements aiding illegal stay, believes the government.
Patil on Thursday discussed this issue — of local help in preparing bogus documents — with concern. Therefore, as part of its operation, the home department plans to book such middlemen and agents.
The state government claims that illegal foreigners number more than 3.5 lakh in Mumbai.
Meanwhile, BJP leaders say that the Mumbai Metropolitan Region houses more than 16 lakh Bangladeshis. The home department says the illegal migrant base also includes those foreigners who come to Mumbai - or to other parts of Maharashtra — for reasons such as health tourism, garments business or education.
Patil has directed the home department to zero in on the localities that have a strong ‘illegal, foreign’ presence. “A strong message needs to be sent to the people living here illegally and, in many cases, in illegal accommodations. Help from the revenue department and bodies like municipal corporations should also be taken to seize the bogus documents. Agents and people helping illegal foreigners should be booked too,” Patil said.
Minister of state for home Ramesh Bagwe said that though his department has deported Bangladeshis in large numbers, 3.5 lakh still remained. “In 2008, 912 Bangladeshis were arrested and 523 were deported. Two Pakistanis and 188 from other countries were deported in the same year. Last year, 1,307 Bangladeshis were arrested and 848 were deported; 44 foreigners from other countries were arrested and 45 deported. In January 2010, 157 Bangladeshis were arrested, while in February 2010, 123 were deported,” he said.
Bagwe said that most of the illegal foreigners are from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nigeria. “We have decided to crack down on them and deport them immediately as it could pose a serious threat to security in the state. Scanning and monitoring of visas and other documents will be undertaken immediately,” he said.
The state government has also prepared a proposal to set up a detention camp in Mumbai. “The camp is according to the provision in the Indian Foreign Act. The foreigners with expired visas are kept in such camps, across the globe, till further arrangements are made,” said Rajvardhan, deputy commissioner of police, Special Branch II (Immigration).
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