Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Nov 18: A detention centre for illegal foreigners that was built at Nelamangala in Karnataka's Bengaluru Rural district has got its first resident, a Sudanese whose visa expired in 2016.
A state-run hostel for the backward communities that has been converted into a detention centre is modified to keep illegal foreigners for deportation to their respective countries. The facility is the first of its kind in Karnataka and is in proximity to the Bengaluru international airport at Devanahalli. It has a common kitchen and a common bathroom. There are two watchtowers set up on two corners and a security room at the entrance.
Detention centre
The social welfare department involved in this project is assigned with providing food, accommodation and clothes, while the Bengaluru rural police will look after the security.
The Sudanese national who overstayed in Bengaluru after arriving on a student visa in 2016 is the first person to be placed here. “He was not registered at an educational institution or pursuing his studies. He was staying illegally in Bengaluru and was jailed. He didn’t get bail for nine months, after which he approached the Karnataka High Court, which ordered that after his release he should be placed in a detention centre near Bengaluru till the trial is completed,” an official said.
Along with the courts, even the Centre can order illegal foreign nationals to stay at the detention centre. "Illegal foreigners can be booked under the Foreigners Act and sent to detention centres to motivate them to depart the country,” a source was quoted in a report by TNM.
The centre was put in place to serve as a facility for illegal foreigners who are awaiting deportation. Once an illegal immigrant is detected, the process of deporting them takes time as officials have to arrange travel documents and contact the embassy of the foreigner’s country. There are times when funds have to be arranged for these illegal foreigners to be deported and in such an event a detention centre would be the place to house them during this period.
In the past, home minister Amit Shah had indicated that the Central government would hold a nationwide exercise across the country to identify and deport foreign nationals overstaying in India illegally without citizenship or after their visas lapse.
Further, the BJP in Karnataka had also maintained that since many illegal Bangladeshis are living in the state, especially Bengaluru, the detention centre would enable the police to detain them for early deportation.