RAGHAV OHRI : Chandigarh
They ‘strayed’ into Indian territory and were arrested by Punjab Police in 2008. For not possessing valid documents, a trial court awarded them six months in jail in March 2009. They served their sentence. But four years on, a Burmese couple and their four children continue to languish in a transit camp in Amritsar Jail.
The reason: the six are awaiting verification of their citizenship.
However, their ordeal now seems to be coming to an end, after Lawyers for Human Rights International (LFHRI), an NGO, filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in Punjab and Haryana High Court, which came up for resumed hearing last week.
During the hearing, the counsel for Centre, informed the court that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has requested the Bureau of Immigration to examine the feasibility of granting long-term VISAs to enable the family to stay in India.The court has given the Bureau a month’s time to do the needful, “We hope a decision shall be taken before the next date of hearing”, the order reads.
The PIL was filed after members of the NGO met Sona Ali. “We had received information that some foreigners, who had strayed inside Indian border, are being detained in Amritsar Jail and are rotting there even after completion of their sentence. They are not being returned for want of necessary documents and identification by their country,” Advocate Navkiran Singh said.
Sona Ali, his wife and four children were arrested by Border Security Force (BSF) at Amritsar International border on September 30, 2008. A case under Passport Act was registered against the six. “What is more appalling is that the children are made to suffer in jail. They stand deprived of getting formal education”, reads the petition.
Demanding immediate release, the NGO also requested the court to direct concerned authorities to give compensation to the family.
When contacted, an Amritsar Jail official said: “After their sentence, we shifted them to a transit camp (on Jail premises). We are yet to receive their release orders.”
Source link: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/six-burmese-including-four-kids-rotting-in-amritsar-jail/1102258/