PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
According to Right to Information (RTI) data received from the Public Information Officer (PIO) of the Ministry of External Affairs, over 18 lakh Indian citizens renounced their citizenship between 2011 and 2023. Of these, more than 200,000 citizens have abandoned their Indian citizenship annually since 2022, as reported by RTI activist Nadeem Uddin, a resident of Kashipur.
Uddin said that he submitted a request to the PIO of the Ministry of External Affairs to obtain information on the number of individuals who have renounced Indian citizenship and obtained foreign citizenship. In response, PIO Tarun Kumar, the under-secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs, provided the relevant information. Additionally, during a session in the Rajya Sabha, questions from MPs Kapil Sibal and Dr John Bits led the PIO to confirm that this information is publicly available and provided a link to access it. He said that after downloading the responses from the link provided, he found the number of Indians who renounced their citizenship from 2011 to 2023. He said that the year 2022 saw the highest number of voluntary renunciations in the past 13 years, with 225,620 citizens giving up their Indian citizenship. The year 2023 recorded the second-highest figure, with 216,219 citizens renouncing their citizenship. Conversely, the year 2020 saw the lowest number, with only 85,256 citizens renouncing their citizenship.
Here is a breakdown of the number of Indian citizens who renounced their citizenship by year: 2011 (122,819), 2012 (120,923), 2013 (131,405), 2014 (129,328), 2015 (131,489), 2016 (141,603), 2017 (133,049), 2018 (134,561) , 2019 (144,017) and among others.
Uddin further said that, according to the information provided by the Ministry of External Affairs, these individuals acquired citizenship in 135 different countries after renouncing their Indian citizenship. The countries where Indians have obtained citizenship include neighboring nations such as Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, as well as developed countries like the UK, the US, Russia, China, Italy, France, Germany, and Japan. Additionally, citizens have also acquired citizenship in economically prosperous countries such as Iraq, Iran, Italy, Turkey and others, he said.
