Written question asked by Lord Singh of Wimbledon (Crossbench) on Tuesday, 7 January 2020, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 21 January 2020. It was answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Conservative) on Monday, 13 January 2020 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

India: Nationality

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they intend to make to the government of India about the proposed National Register of Citizens; and in particular reports (1) that the Register may leave more than two million Muslims in Assam without citizenship and stateless, and (2) that detention camps are being constructed for such stateless persons.

Answer: The British High Commission in New Delhi and our network of Deputy High Commissions across India are following reports on the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens, as well as the Government of India’s response. We raise our concerns with the Government of India where appropriate. I discussed the Government of India’s intent with, and popular response to, the CAA with India’s Minister of State for External Affairs on 19 December 2019. The British High Commissioner in New Delhi also raised this issue with the Indian Government on 6 January.

Secondary information