Next, the President turned the heat on illegal immigrants. He promulgated an ordinance, the salient features of the Ordinance are given below.
Preamble
No country in this world allows any foreign national to enter their country without valid travel documents like passport and visa. No country allows foreign nationals to work in their country to work without a valid work permit. Why should India do otherwise? We are an over populated country. We cannot provide employment to millions of our citizen. It is ridiculous for us to allow millions of citizens of our neighbors to stay in the country without valid travel documents and to work. This is against the interest of the people of this country. We must get rid of all illegal immigrants at all cost.
Definition of an Illegal Immigrant
Any person of foreign origin including Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan who has arrived in this country without valid travel documents or is working without valid work permit, will be treated as illegal immigrants.
Any person of foreign origin who came on a valid visa but who could not get the visa renewed within the stipulated time will not be an illegal immigrant if he has applied for extension of his visa. However, if the application has been rejected, and the individual has not left within 7 days of the rejection of the application, the individual will be treated as an illegal immigrant.
Incase of people from Bangladesh, 31 December 1976 will be treated as the cut off year for detection and deportation of illegal immigrants.
Punishment for Illegal Immigration
Any foreign national detected without valid travel documents in India will be arrested and put into fully secure detention camps (similar to prisoner of war camps) established for the purpose in all states of the Union. These detention camps will be run by a new organization created for detection and deportation of illegal immigrants with the help of central security forces. They will be deported at the earliest. If the country of origin does not accept them, they will be kept in detention camps on subsistence rations. No medical aid will be provided unless the same is paid for by UN or any NGO. The men and women with children will be kept separate, even if they belong to the same family, so that no breeding can take place.
If an illegal immigrant is found to have purchased any moveable or immovable property, the same will be confiscated by the State and auctioned and the proceeds will be credited to the State.
Punishment for Abetting Illegal Immigrants
Any person found guilty of assisting illegal immigration by way of help in crossing the international boundary, providing money, arranging for travel or shelter, arranging for ration cards or any other documents or help in any way to legitimize illegal immigration, if found guilty by a court of law, will be sentenced to death by torture. The sentence will be commuted to life imprisonment if the person provides information about the modus operendii and provides evidence to convict other persons engaged in the business.
Any person who provides shelter to an illegal immigrant whether for a consideration or not, if found guilty in a court of law, will be imprisoned for a period of one year for the first offense and 5 years for a second offense.
Any person who employs an illegal immigrant with full knowledge of his being an illegal immigrant would be fined a sum of Rs. 10,000. In case the employer is a contractor or any commercial organization, they will be fined Rs 100,000 per person for their first offence. Their license to pursue the business will be withdrawn and their bank accounts will be frozen for one year in case of a second offence.
Any person who sells or leases any property to any illegal immigrant will be fined an amount equal to twice the market value of the property. The property will be seized in case of a second offence, auctioned and the proceeds will be credited to government treasury.
Detection and Deporting of Foreign Nationals
A special Central Government Department would be set up in all states within one month of this notification to deal with detection and deportation of foreign nationals and for the management of the detention camps. To start with the department would be manned by officers and men, serving or retired, of police, intelligence agencies, the defense services and para military forces. Within three months, Cells of this organization will be established in each district of the border states, Delhi and Mumbai. The department would operate under the Ministry of Home Affair.
Special Courts will be established in all states to speedily deal with cases of illegal immigration. In border states, there would be one court per district. To start with these would be manned by retired district and sessions judges. These courts would be established within three months of the promulgation of this ordinance.
It is obligatory for all Indian citizens to report cases of illegal immigration. Any person who fails to report a case of illegal immigration would, if found guilty by the special courts, be sentenced to one years imprisonment. In case of a second offense, the punishment would be five years of imprisonment. The report would be made to the police station in whose jurisdiction the case is reported by registered post with a copy to the nearest Cell for detection and deportation of foreign nationals.
If any police station fails to record such a complaint or fails to investigate such a complaint within a period of thirty days, the Station House Officer will be suspended immediately. If found guilty, he will be dismissed from service and imprisoned for five years.
Amnesty Period
All illegal immigrants are given an amnesty period of one month during which time they can voluntarily go back to their countries of origin. After one month they will be proceeded against under this ordinance. The amnesty period will also be available to those who have sold or leased immoveable property to an illegal immigrant provided he reports the matter to the police immediately.
Promulgation of this Ordinance
This Ordinance will be promulgated in all national and vernacular news papers once every week for one month.
During the usual press conference on the subject, the President was asked whether this ordinance would lead to harassment of the minorities. The President felt that since the reporting of illegal immigrants was mandatory under law, it is up to the minorities to report such cases voluntarily. If they did not do so, they became abettors of a crime and would naturally be liable for punishment under the law. Criminals, if arrested or proceeded against under law cannot claim that they are being harassed.
The President was asked whether in such a vast country it was possible to detect and deport illegal immigrants. The President felt that once the employment opportunities were effectively denied, the immigrants would be forced to return on their own. It is our unscrupulous businessmen, contractors and landlords looking for cheap labor and house wives looking for cheap domestic help, who were the main reason for illegal immigration. Once this aspect has been taken care of, illegal immigration would stop on its own.
When asked if the measures were in keeping with international law, the President pointed out that the practice of keeping illegal immigrants in detention centers was universal. Hong Kong detained the boat people from Vietnam in detention camps and forcibly deported them and no one has complained. Australia has detained boat people trying to enter the country in camps outside Australia. Bangladesh has detained Burmese Muslims trying to enter their country and is trying to deport them and no one has complained. Bhutan forcibly pushed people of Nepalese origin into India and the international community has not complained. So why should any country or the international community complain if India takes a tough stand on illegal immigration. We have people of Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Shri Lanka and some of the African countries coming and settling down in India. Is India the dumping ground for all the unwanted population of Asia and Africa? If any one wants to settle down in India, they must apply for and obtain citizenship or work permits as per existing law. They cannot just walk in as they feel like. Of course, Hindu minorities in Pakistan who face persecution will be given citizenship on arr