Foreigners in Bihar rolls; will be removed after 'proper enquiry': ECI Officials

In a significant development just ahead of the assembly elections in Bihar, Election Commission officials on Sunday indicated that a 'large number' of possible foreign nationals have been found living in the state and their names would be excluded from the final electoral rolls if it is so proven after "proper enquiry".

The ECI is currently conducting a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar which involves house-to-house enumeration and verification of documents of every elector. "During the house-to-house visits, a large number of people from Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar have been found by the BLOs. These persons have been able to procure all documents including aadhaar, domicile certificate, ration card etc", ECI sources said. They said "after proper enquiry to be conducted from Aug 1 till Aug 30, if found true, such names shall not be included in the final list to be published on Sept 30, 2025".

The three documents: Aadhaar, domicile certificate and ration card are not among the 11 documents proof-listed by the ECI in its June 24 order. The Supreme Court last week asked the ECI to consider allowing aadhaar and ration cards as well. The latest ECI revelation, therefore, is bound to bring the issue of citizenship to the centre of the SIR, especially in the Seemanchal region. Seemanchal is roughly spread across 24 assembly seats across the four districts of Kishanganj, Araria, Purnea and Katihar and has often been under watch for suspected infiltration of illegal immigrants. The home ministry has, on various occasions, highlighted the issue of influx of immigrants into different parts of the country, especially the Rohingyas. The issue of suspected Bangladeshi and Rohingyas Muslim presence in Seemanchal region has also been red flagged by agencies, sources told ET. "The issue of illegal intruders is related to national security, and should be dealt with strictly and they should be identified and deported," said a senior government official.

As per official estimates, there are nearly 40,000 Rohingyas across India with the highest number in Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Haryana among others. The problem has compounded since late 2011 with Rohingyas from Rakhine province in Myanmar migrating to India following persecution by the Myanmar armed forces.

While there are no specific figures for Bihar, as per a Parliament reply on February 24, 2016, West Bengal with 3,724, followed by Tripura (1713), Tamil Nadu (639) and Maharashtra (228) recorded the highest number of cases of arrest of foreign nationals in 2014 under various sections of the Foreigners Act, 1946 and on charges of violating other provisions of the Immigration Control Rules & Regulations. There were 28,356 such foreign nationals found to be overstaying as of December 2014. As per the home ministry's data, more than 14,000 Rohingyas are presently registered with the UNHCR, as staying in India.