Detention centre for Nigerians?
Intended for illegal immigrants, Karnataka minister does a complete U-turn
About 35 km away from Bengaluru on the outskirts of the city is India’s first ‘detention centre’ for illegal immigrants.
While PM Modi has denied the existence of detention centres, the one in Nelamangala has all the tell-tale signs of one – high walls, heavily barbed fencing, watch towers and tight security. However, according to Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai, the structure is not a detention centre. It is a ‘facility’ to lodge "Nigerian nationals and immigrants" accused of crimes in the city.
Bengaluru has a sizeable number of students and nationals from Nigeria, a few of whom have been involved in drug trafficking and have a track record of violence.
Addressing the media here, Bommai said: "The facility was constructed by the Social Welfare Department. There are so many cases of Nigerian men and women attacking the police. If a case is registered against them, they will have to remain here. The facility is to house such people, so that they can be deported to their countries. It is not meant to house any person with issues about citizenship. It is not a detention centre."
However, in October this year, Bommai had told the media that the centre was meant to house illegal immigrants.
His current statement is a complete U-turn. He had earlier confirmed that the Home Department is collecting information on illegal immigrants and that the National Register of Citizens, first implemented in Assam, is being examined, so that it can be implemented in Karnataka as well.
“We (government) have started the preliminary exercise to prepare the ground to introduce NRC in Karnataka by collecting necessary information (about illegal immigrants). After this, we’ll discuss it with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and take a final call in a week or two,” Bommai had said.
But now he claims that the facility is not currently operational. "No, we have not opened the facility.
You can ask Social Welfare Department officials. It is still monitored by the Social Welfare Department.
The facility was refurbished and fortified during the JD(S)Congress regime.
The facility has no inmates as of now.
His present denial comes in the wake of massive protests in Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens. It also comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that there are no detention centres in India.
According to Social Welfare Department Commissioner Peddapaiahm, his department only maintains the facility and has no say in who is lodged in the facility. "There were some minor works that needed to be completed and it has been done. The facility is ready for use. It’s up to the Home Department and immigration officials and police to decide who will be lodged there," an official with the department told the local media.