Can’t deport illegals without home country’s nod: Centre

NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday told Supreme Court that foreigners and illegal immigrants cannot be deported to their home country immediately after serving their sentences for violation of the Passport Act as it depended on the receiving country verifying their identities and providing them travel documents for repatriation.
Last week, a bench of Justices A S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan took a radical approach and told the Centre, “Lack of their foreign address cannot be a reason to delay their deportation. Show us that without an address, you (the govt) cannot deport them. You cannot detain them indefinitely. If you know that they are from a particular country then it is for that country to decide where they should go. There is reluctance on your part.”
Advocating US President Donald Trump’s approach, the bench had said, “Put them on a plane to the capital of the country (to which they belong). It is a violation of their human rights and also fundamental rights guaranteed to them under Article 21 (of the Constitution).”
The ministry of home affairs (MHA) said a foreigner can be deported only if he has valid travel documents/passport. “In case he/she does not have valid travel documents, it is necessary/mandatory to obtain requisite travel documents from the concerned country’s embassy/high commission through the process of nationality verification before he/she can be deported,” it said
For this purpose, the ministry of external affairs has to be contacted by the state govt concerned with details of the foreigner. “Verification of nationality is a sovereign function of the foreign govt, no time limit can be fixed for completion of the process,” it said.
Till such time their nationality is verified and deportation is completed, their movements need to be restricted to ensure their physical availability for deportation. Conviction of an illegal migrant and nationality verification are two different aspects. “Without nationality verification/availability of travel documents, it is not possible to deport the foreigner/illegal immigrant to his/her home country,” it said.
The Centre reminded Justices Oka and Bhuyan that the top court had in 2012 in the Bhim Singh case had said foreign nationals who have completed their sentences should be released from jail and kept in an appropriate place with restricted movements pending their deportation/repatriation. Govt had in March 2012 asked states to comply with the SC direction.