A jump of 241 per cent was recorded in the number of Pakistani nationals found overstaying in different parts of the country last year, compared to 1,411 cases in 2012. However, Indian agencies were able to track down and deport barely 58 Pakistani nationals.
The Union Home Ministry data, intriguingly, also reveals a steady increase in the cases of U.S. nationals staying after expiry of their visas. While 2,168 of them were detected in 2011, the figure went up to 3,191 last year, whereas only 49 could be deported to the U.S. in 2013.
Another noticeable trend has been a gradual increase in overstay of foreigners from Sri Lanka, Iraq, Tanzania, Oman and Kenya. A 16 per cent rise in the number of overstaying Afghani nationals was also noticed, with a total of 16,194 such cases being reported last year.
There was a 20 per cent decline, compared to 2012, in the overall figure that stood at 56,785 in 2013
Upward trend in T.N.Tamil Nadu figures showed a significant upward trend over the past three years. The State reported the maximum number of cases (23,066) last year. However, a reverse trend was noticed in Delhi that stood second with 19,710 cases.
This apart, there was a decline in the number of deportations under the Foreigners Act, from 7,503 in 2012 to 6,903.
Even as the Ministry of Home Affairs is planning to devise a mechanism for identification and deportation of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, government records reveal a steep decline in the number of overstaying Bangladeshi nationals in the past few years.
While 24,364 such cases were reported in 2011, the figure dropped to 16,530 in 2012 and then to an insignificant 1,541 last year. A total of 5,234 such Bangladeshi nationals, particularly those staying in West Bengal and Tripura, were deported last year.
In a written reply, the MHA recently informed the Lok Sabha that nearly 230 foreign nationals, including 80 Nigerians, 66 Nepalese, 27 from Myanmar and 12 South Africans, were arrested in 2013 for alleged involvement in drug trafficking. Till May this year, 74 more foreigners, including 28 Nepalese, were booked by the enforcement agencies.
