NEW DELHI: The central government on Thursday said that the Indians seeking asylum abroad were ‘denigrating’ the nation to obtain “personal gains”.
The comments came in response to a question if there were any data available regarding the number of “Indians who have sought asylum in foreign countries during each of the last three years and the current year, country-wise” and what steps had been taken to address the issue.
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“The Government of India believes that asylum seekers, while applying for asylum to a foreign government, denigrate the nation and society to obtain personal gains despite the fact that India, being a democratic country, provides avenues for everyone to redress their grievances lawfully,” minister of state in the ministry of external affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
The government said that there was no data available as the “foreign governments concerned cite inability to share such data due to privacy and data protection laws.”
This came after data from the US department of homeland security showed an 855% rise in Indians seeking asylum in US in the past three years.
According to data, asylum applications increased from 4,330 in the 2021 US financial year to 41,330 in FY 2023. Indian officials reported that nearly half of these applicants are from Gujarat.
Also read: From 4.3k in 2021 to 41.3k in 2023, tally of Indians seeking US asylum up 855%