Citizenship Act: 40,000 refugees identified in UP; Maximum in Pilibhit

Lucknow, Jan 13: Uttar Pradesh, which became the first state to begin process for implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act has reportedly sent a list of largely Hindu refugees living across 19 districts in the state to the Union home ministry.

The data reveals 40,000 non-Muslim illegal immigrants live in UP. Of these, 30,000 to 35,000 are in Pilibhit district alone.

"The notification for the CAA (by the Centre) has been issued and all district magistrates in UP have been asked to collect data," Sharma told PTI.

"This is an ongoing process, will keep on updating the figures. All District Magistrates have been asked to carry out surveys and keep on updating list. We are in process of sharing this list with the Union home ministry too," the report said.

The districts from where the first list has arrived included Sahranpur, Gorakhpur, Aligarh, Rampur, Pratapgarh, Pilibhit, Lucknow, Varnaasi, Bahraich, Lakhimpur, Rampur, Meerut, Agra.

An NGO, Nagrik Adhikar Manch, has also prepared a 116-page report, "Uttar Pradesh Mein Aaye Pakistan, Afghanistan Evam Bangladesh ke Sharnarthiyon ki Aapbeeti (Unke Utpeedan ki Kahani)" and sent it to the state and the Centre.

However, the state government has not confirmed whether it was taking the report into account or not. "We have got the report of the Nagrik Adhikar Manch," a senior Home Department official said, who refused to elaborate.

The Centre last week had issued a gazette notification announcing that the CAA has come into effect from January 10, 2020.

The state, it may be recalled had witnessed large scale protests against the law that grants citizenship to the religiously persecuted minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

UP had witnessed large scale violence against the law and 20 persons had died. The government has also issued over 100 notices to persons part of the violence and sought to know why the damage caused to the public property could not be recovered from them.