Minister for Social Justice R. Bindu will inaugurate the first transit home for foreign nationals, being started under the Social Justice Department, at Mayyanad in Kollam on Friday.
The home has been set up on the basis of interim orders of the High Court in cases filed by two Nigerian nationals who had been released from jail, Dr. Bindu said at a press conference here on Thursday.
The High Court had said that transit homes should be started to accommodate temporarily foreign nationals entering the country illegally, those staying back in the country even after expiry of passport/visa date, those who had completed their jail term, were on parole, had been released from jail, or were in need of other forms of protection.
On the basis of the court directions issued in 2020, a transit home was opened temporarily under the Home Department in a rented accommodation at Punkunnam in Thrissur district on May 13, 2021. Following this, draft guidelines were prepared on the basis of a manual issued by the Union government, and the Social Justice Director recommended to the government that two transit homes be set up temporarily.
The government examined the matter and directed that an alternative building be found to the Thrissur home. With the Kollam transit home, the Social Justice Department was implementing the High Court’s directions, the Minister said.
M. Noushad, MLA, will preside over the inaugural, to be held at 11 a.m.
