Rohingya Muslims obtaining Aadhaar, PAN, passports: govt

Some Rohingya Muslims, living in the country illegally, have fraudulently obtained Indian identity documents like Aadhaar card, PAN card and even passports, the Rajya Sabha was informed Wednesday.

Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said since illegal immigrants enter into the country without valid travel documents in clandestine and surreptitious manners, there is no accurate data regarding the number of such migrants living in the country.

"Some Rohingyas have fraudulently obtained Indian identity documents like Aadhaar card, PAN card, passport etc. Necessary instructions have been issued to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to ensure that no Aadhaar card is issued to illegal immigrants," he said in reply to a written question.

Rijiju said state governments have also been instructed to cancel such documents obtained fraudulently by Rohingya immigrants living illegally in India.

He said as per reports, illegal Rohingya immigrants were staying mostly in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Telangana, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Karnataka and Kerala.

The minister added that there were reports of some Rohingyas indulging in illegal activities as well.

"Detection and deportation of illegal immigrants is a continuous process. Instructions have been issued to state governments for taking appropriate and prompt steps for identification of illegal migrants (including Rohingyas), their restriction to specified locations as per provisions of the law, capturing their biographic and biometric particulars, and initiation of legal proceeding, including deportation proceedings, as per provisions of the law," he said.