15,000 Bangladeshis Got Indian Citizenship In Last 5 Years: Centre

India granted citizenship to 15,000 people from Bangladesh in the last five years, and cases of 83,008 who were declared as "doubtful voters" are pending in Foreigners Tribunals in Assam, the Home Ministry said in Lok Sabha today. It said 86,756 people were declared as foreigners in the last five years.

"Government of Assam has informed that pending cases of doubtful voters in Assam in FTs (Foreigners' Tribunals) are 83,008 and the number of people declared as foreigners in Assam from 2015 to June 30, 2020 are 86,756," Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said in a written reply.

The Home Ministry said Foreigners' Tribunals are functioning only in Assam.

Explaining the procedure, Mr Rai said detention centres are set up by state governments and Union Territory administrations as per their requirement to detain illegal immigrants or foreigners who have completed their sentence, pending deportation to their country.

Details of the number of detention centres set up by the state governments and Union Territory administrations along with the number of foreign nationals detained in these detention centres are not centrally maintained, he said.