New Delhi: Over two crore illegal immigrants
are living in India, most of whom are from the sub-continent,
the Government said Thursday.
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs Joint Secretary G
Gurucharan said over 20 million illegal immigrants are living
in the country.
"You cannot identify a person by ethnicity. A Sri Lankan
Tamil can pass as one from Chennai and a Punjabi-speaking
person can be a Pakistani. Likewise a Bengali-speaking person
can be a Bangaldeshi," he told a workshop on illegal
immigration here.
"India has over 20 million illegal immigrants living," he
said.
To a question on the rise in incidents of women being
pushed into India from Nepal, he said, "We have a porous
border with Nepal. In such cases like people being forced into
sex trade, the help of civil socities is needed."
PTI
First Published: Thursday, May 13, 2010, 15:24