As the crisis unfolded after the Taliban’s invasion, many Afghan nationals wanted to escape to India. Although India had always welcomed refugees in the past but due to the ongoing refugee calamity in India, allowing more evacuees could become a burden too heavy to bear.
- The ongoing illegal immigrant crisis in India, a mess created by UPA, is being cleared by NDA.
- The Modi government has been careful about opening the doors only for those under immediate threat, such as minorities and Afghan allies.
- Had the UPA or any other ‘secular’ party been in power today, India would have become a dumping ground of refugees, regardless of national security concerns or the burden on the exchequer and India’s natural resources.
The Modi government always had a humanitarian approach towards geopolitics; at present nearly 300,000 people in the country are categorized as refugees. Neither India is a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention or the 1967 Protocol, nor does India has a refugee policy or a refugee law of its own. Yet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that if any Indian is in trouble anywhere in the world, then the country will stand up to help them with all its might. It has already evacuated hundreds of Indians amid a deteriorating security situation in Kabul.
Read more: Hundreds of Rohingyas flee India as Govt cracks down on illegal immigration
The Myanmar Crisis
While India was already dealing with the Rohingya Crisis, another one added up. Post the civil war that broke out in Myanmar back in May, India was expected to give sanctuary to the Rohingyas. The Congress and the opposition had constantly been demanding refugees, as a part of their policy of Muslim appeasement, a large number of Rohingyas even tried to infiltrate. This myriad of Rohingyas created a breeding ground for political scavenging.
Political scavenging is a conspicuous scenario of the Indian political extravaganza. Moreover, the Rohingyas pose a security threat to India and, have been indulged in illegal activities such as fraudulent procurement, and/or fabrication of Indian identity cards — PAN, voter IDs, and others — money laundering, crimes and other anti-national activities. However, the NDA government took a stern stand towards the Rohingyas in 2019. Illegal immigrants were detected, detained and deported under provisions of the Passport Act, 1920 or the Foreigners Act, 1946.
Read more: These incidents prove that Rohingyas are clear and present danger to India’s internal security
The Afghanistan Crisis
With India taking up significant effort towards repatriation of Indians stranded and evacuation of Afghan people, India is expected to grant citizenship to the Afghan refugees.
According to The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), India currently hosts at least 15,806 Afghan refugees within its borders. With the refugee population already overflowing in the country, the Modi government has been careful about opening the doors only for the rightful inhabitants of India. This decision of the PM has saved the country from a major crisis. India’s resource capacity need not translate into Afghan nationals being perpetually dependent on India.
Read more: Giving Indian citizenship to Afghans will be suicidal
Since the last year, the Modi government has been trying to rescue the Hindus and Sikhs who are a minority and worst-hit community in Afghanistan, by bringing out the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The Sikhs and Hindus constitute a minute population of Afghanistan, and their situation has always been horrifying in the Islamic state, but after the Taliban took over, it got even worse.
Read more: Amarinder doesn’t support CAA. Amarinder wants PM Modi to evacuate Sikhs from Afghanistan
India is no longer a bed of roses for illegal immigrants, neither will it be a dumping ground for Myanmar and Afghanistan refugees. The uncompromising and unsparing attitude of India suggests that India will continue its crackdown on illegal immigration with a renewed and valid algorithm.
Unlike the UPA government who bowed down to minority appeasement, the Modi government does not want India to become a global refugee capital as the Indian economy is still developing. Some features namely low per capita income, higher population below the poverty line, poor infrastructure, agriculture-based economy and a lower rate of capital formation, marks India as a developing economy. We cannot repeat the mistakes the UPA government did for vote-bank politics and further burden our resources by bringing in more illegal immigrants or refugees. Moreover, the Modi government has not compromised its focus on national security.
