NEW DELHI: The home ministry on Wednesday said there was no provision of ‘detention centres’ under the
Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) or the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC). The ministry said that such ‘detention centres’ were set up by the state governments as per their local requirements to detain illegal immigrants/foreigners who had completed their jail sentence and were awaiting deportation for want of travel papers.
Replying to a question by TMC MP Derek O Brien, MoS (home)
Nityanand Rai said the
Supreme Court had in an order dated February 28, 2012 directed that foreign nationals who had completed their sentence shall be released from jail immediately. The court said, they be kept in an appropriate place with restricted movement pending their deportation/repatriation.
MHA had on March 7, 2012 issued instructions to the state governments and Union territory administrations to comply with the apex court’s directions.
"Detention centres are set up by state governments/Union territory administrations as per their local requirements to detain illegal immigrants/foreigners, some of whom may have completed their sentence and their deportation to their native country may be pending for want of proper travel documents," Rai said.
He added that the details of the number of such detention centres set up by the state/UTs or the persons detained in these centres were not maintained centrally.