NEW DELHI (Diya TV) — The Indian government has condemned the growing number of its citizens applying for asylum in the United States, saying such behavior “degrades” the country for “personal advantage.” The reaction came as new statistics showed that more than 41,000 Indian nationals applied for asylum in the U.S. last year, a 855% increase from 2021, with nearly half of the applicants coming from the state of Gujarat.
The Ministry of External Affairs told Parliament that India, being a democratic country, offers appropriate legal avenues to its nationals to redress their concerns within the country. It was in response to the question raised in the upper house by senior lawmaker Kapil Sibal, which sought clarification on the reason for the spurt of asylum seekers.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s 2023 Asylees Annual Flow Report, released in October, indicates that 41,030 Indians applied for asylum in the United States during 2022, which makes India the fifth-largest nationality in defensive asylum claims. In fiscal year 2023, 5,340 Indian nationals were granted asylum. Out of these, 2,710 received affirmative asylum and 2,630 were granted defensive asylum.
The affirmative asylum process applies to those who are not presently in removal proceedings and are validly admitted into the U.S. by proper visas, whereas defensive asylum is granted to those people who seek protection against deportation. This increase in the number of defensive asylum cases has been a matter of concern for India as the government expressed dismay at how the country was being depicted in such cases.
The MEA further stated that “India’s democratic structure provides legal remedies for all grievances, and the fact that citizens seek asylum outside India is harmful to India’s international standing.” As it said, “although every citizen is entitled to seek protection under international law, the system of asylum under international law should not be misused to reap benefits from unfounded claims.”
Under the U.S. asylum system, individuals seeking asylum have to present evidence of credible fear regarding race, religion, nationality, membership in a specific social group, or political opinion. But India has taken the stand that its nationals make false claims more than often because of fabricated and exaggerated fears, leaving India in an adverse image.
While asylum seekers raise reasons such as political persecution, caste-based discrimination, and religious intolerance, the MEA pointed out that India’s constitution guarantees equal protection under the law to all citizens.
Recently, asylum seekers have become a new trend in the U.S. as Indians have begun to feature along with nations such as Venezuela, Guatemala, and El Salvador on the list of defensive asylum claims. Applications from India, particularly from Gujarat, have shot up sharply in recent times and reflect deep sociopolitical and economic issues pushing people to seek refuge abroad.
