183,000 Indians Renounced Citizenship This Year: V Muraleedharan

NEW DELHI: Since 2011, almost 1.6 million Indians have renounced their citizenship, including 183,741 this year, according to V Muraleedharan, the state minister for foreign affairs, who spoke to the Lok Sabha on Friday.

The statistic was given by Muraleedharan in a written response to a query from Congressman Abdul Khaleque, who wanted to know how many people have given up their Indian citizenship since January 2015.

Citing figures available from the foreign affairs ministry, Muraleedharan said 131,489 people gave up their Indian citizenship in 2015, 141,603 in 2016, 133,049 in 2017, 134,561 in 2018, 144,017 in 2019, 85,256 in 2020, 163,370 in 2021 and 1,83,741 till October 31 this year.

He cited the numbers 122,819 for 2011, 120,923 for 2012, 131,405 for 2013, and 129,328 for 2014 as a point of comparison.

The overall number of Indians who have renounced their Indian citizenship since 2011 equals 1.6 million, according to figures provided by the minister.

Khaleque asked Muraleedharan for an estimate of how much money citizenship renouncers take out of India; Muraleedharan said that the data is not kept by the external affairs ministry.

Aside from residents of Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, he said, there were 93 foreign people who obtained Indian citizenship in 2015, 153 in 2016, 175 in 2017, 129 in 2018, 113 in 2019, 27 in 2020, 42 in 2021, and 60 in 2022.

In a written response to a different inquiry from BJP MP Rahul Kaswan, Muraleedharan stated that 8,441 Indians—including those who are awaiting trial—are currently being held in foreign prisons. In prisons in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman, 4,389 of those people are imprisoned.

A Transfer of Sentenced Persons Agreement has been inked between India and the UAE, allowing for the transfer of Indian citizens incarcerated in UAE jails to India to finish out their sentences and vice versa. The contract was executed in 2011 and is currently in use.

According to the agreement, the transfer of a sentenced person to his country of nationality is contingent upon the fulfillment of a number of formalities, including the prisoner's willingness to be transferred, the receiving and transferring countries' consent, the availability of complete documentation, and approval from the necessary agencies.

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