In the seminar room of a university in the city, members of various African nations gathered on Wednesday with some grimness. Barely three weeks ago, at least 107 persons, primarily from Nigeria, had cases booked against them for “overstaying” in the country. More than 50 of them remain in jail, while the rest have received bail. They cannot leave India until their trials are completed.
Those gathered were of the opinion that filing criminal cases would solve nothing. The cases should be dropped and the foreigners should be given an innocent passage (that is, a free exit) from the country, they said.
“The African community will help them arrange documents for visa extension or to leave the country,” said Bosco Kaweesi, a legal adviser to the African community, to the students gathered at CMR University. “The reasons for overstaying should be resolved, particularly on visa extension.”
On Wednesday, the Pan African Federation and Students’ Union had converged to discuss solutions for the current crisis and to discuss on easing the rising tensions between locals and members of the community.
Many said they were constantly stopped by the police, while local house owners had started serving eviction notices. However, the anger was directed at the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), which is responsible for visa extensions. “The FRRO, which harasses and instils fear, is the reason students end up overstaying. They do not extend visas and do not listen to us when we say we need just six months to complete our education. They do this only for the African community... They’ve even rejected the exit process of those who want to leave the country voluntarily,” said Okeye Paschal, president of a local Nigerian association.
A Nigerian student, who himself has been overstaying for two months, said the FRRO had refused to extend his five-year visa. “They don’t understand that sometimes, our education takes longer than most. Because the Nigerian economy collapsed, my parents could not send me money on time to continue my course. I had to take a break, and now have a year left to complete it. But, they ask me to go back, which I can’t. I can’t go back without completing my degree after having invested so much on it,” he said.
Mr. Kasweesi said they wanted a system in place — much like the coordination committee set up when P. Harishekaran was Additional Commissioner of Police — where a liaison officer could address the problems of the African community with the police, landlords, colleges, and the FRRO.
