200 e-Emergency X-visas issued to Afghans till Nov 24: Govt informs Parliament

The Union home ministry on Wednesday informed Parliament that 200e-EmergencyX-miscellaneous visas have been issued to Afghan citizens till November 24. This new order of visa was introduced for Afghan citizens after the Taliban took over the country in August.

The special ordere-EmergencyX-miscellaneous visa was a special order electronic visa introduced by the government to gormandize- track critical operations for entry into India. It’s issued to nonnatives who aren’t covered in the available orders of visa but need to visit India due to an exigency. The government reviews the exigency operation as per the specified rules and issues thee-emergency visa consequently.

Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, Union minister of state for home affairs Niryanand Rai further said that Afghan citizens are presently staying in India after the extension of their visas.

“In view of the prevailing situation in Afghanistan, the Government of India has started an’e-EmergencyX-Misc visa’for a period of six months for Afghan citizens,”Rai said while replying to question asked by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Vandana Chavan.

Giving details about the legislation, policy and schemes accepted by the government of India to insure safety and norms of living of deportees in India, the minister said,”All foreign citizens ( including Shelter campaigners) are governed by the vittles contained in the Nonnatives Act, 1946, The Registration of Nonnatives Act, 1939, The Passport ( Entry into India) Act, 1920 and The Citizenship Act, 1955 and rules and orders made thereunder.”

“The data of foreign citizens who enter into the country without valid trip documents in a secret and covert manner, claiming to be deportees or shelter campaigners aren’t maintained centrally,”Rai clarified.

Afghanistan came under the control of the Taliban in the wake of the pullout of American forces. While the deadline for the US forces to leave Afghanistan was August 31, the insurrectionary group captured the presidential palace in capital Kabul a fortnight before that.

The lightning speed at which the Taliban seized parochial capital metropolises like Gardez, Sharana, Asadabad, Maymana, Mihtarlam, Nili, Mazar-i-Sharif, and eventually Kabul, left the world in shock.

Thousands of Afghans fled in the country in the wake of Taliban’s advance and sought shelter in near countries, including India.