The
Foreigners Act
India Act
III, 1864 (12th February, 1864)
Preamble
WHEREAS it is expedient to
make provisions to enable the President of the Union to prevent the subjects of
Foreign States from residing or sojourning in the Union of Burma, or from
passing through or travelling therein, without the
consent of the President of the Union, it is enacted as follows:
1. Interpretation. “Foreigner”
In this Act, unless
the context otherwise requires the word "foreigner" shall denote a
person who is not a citizen of the
2.
Proof
of being a foreigner
If a question shall arise whether any person alleged to be a
foreigner and to be subject to the provisions of this Act is a foreigner or not,
or is or is not subject to the provisions of this Act, the onus of proving that
such person is not a foreigner, or is not subject to the provisions of this
Act, shall lie upon such person.
3.
President
may order any Foreigner to remove himself or to be deported
The President of the Union may, by writing --
(a) order any foreigner to remove himself from the Union of
Burma, or to remove, himself therefrom by a
particular route to be specified in the order, or
(b) order that any foreigner be deported forthwith from the
Union of Burma.
3A Foreigner may be apprehended and, detained pending order of removal or deportation
(1) Whenever the District Magistrate considers that the
President of the Union should be moved to issue an order under section 3 in
respect of any foreigner who is within the limits of the jurisdiction of such Magistrate,
he may report the case to the President of the Union and at the same time issue
a warrant for the apprehension of such foreigner.
(2) Any officer issuing a warrant under sub-section (1) may, in his discretion,
direct by endorsement on the warrant that if such foreigner executes a bond
with or without sureties for his attendance at a specified place and time, the
person to whom the warrant is directed shall take such security and release
such foreigner from custody.
(3) Any person
executing a warrant under sub-section (1) may search for and apprehend the
foreigner named in such warrant; and, subject to any direction issued under
sub-section (2), shall forthwith cause such foreigner when apprehended to be
produced before the officer issuing the warrant.
(4) When a foreigner
for whose apprehension a warrant has been issued under sub-section (1) is
produced or appears before the officer issuing such warrant, such officer may
direct him to be detained in custody pending the orders of the President of the
Union, or may release him on his executing a bond with or without sureties to
appear at a specified place and time and thereafter if and when required until
such orders are obtained.
(5) Any officer who
has in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (4), ordered a foreigner
to be detained or released on his executing a bond shall forthwith report the
fact to the President of the
4 Foreigner refusing to remove or returning without license after removal,
may be apprehended and detained
(1) If any foreigner
ordered to remove himself from the Union of Burma or ordered to remove himself
by a particular route, shall neglect or refuse so to do, or if any foreigner,
having removed himself from the Union of Burma in consequence of an order
issued under any of the provisions of this Act, or having been removed from the
Union of Burma under any of the said provisions, shall wilfully
return thereto without a license in writing granted by the President of the
Union, such foreigner may be apprehended and detained in safe custody by an
order in writing of the District Magistrate, until he shall be discharged therefrom by order of the President of the Union upon such
terms and conditions as the President of the Union, shall deem sufficient for
the peace and security of the Union of Burma.
(2) Any foreigner who
has been ordered to be deported under section 3 (b) may be apprehended without
warrant by any police officer not below the rank of Sub-Inspector and brought
before the District Magistrate who shall, by an order in writing, cause the
said foreigner to be detained in safe custody pending the completion of
arrangements for his removal out of the Union of Burma.
(3) Any foreigner
apprehended and detained under the provisions of sub-section (1) may be
admitted to bail by the District Magistrate.
5. President may order all the provisions of
the Act to be in force in the Union of Burma or in any part thereof
Whenever the
President of the Union shall consider it necessary to take further precautions
in respect of foreigners residing or travelling in
the Union of Burma or any part thereof, it shall be lawful for the President of
the Union by a notification to order that the provisions of this and the
subsequent sections up to and including section 12 of this Act shall be in
force in the Union of Burma, or in such part thereof as shall be specified in
such notification, for such period as shall be therein declared; and thereupon,
and for such period, the provisions of this and the subsequent section up to
and including section 22 shall have full force and effect in the Union of Burma
or such part thereof as shall have been so specified. The President of the
6. Every foreigner to report
his arrival in the
Every foreigner on arriving
in any part of the Union of Burma in which all the provisions of this Act are
for the time being in force, under an order issued as provided in the last
preceding section from any port or place not within the Union of Burma, or any
port or place within the Union of Burma where all the provisions of this Act
are not in force, shall forthwith report himself to the District Magistrate, or
to such other officer as shall be appointed to receive such reports by the
President of the Union.
7. What to be stated in the
report
The report shall be in
writing, and shall he signed by the person reporting himself and shall specify
his name or names, the nation to which he belongs, the place from which he
shall have come, the place of his destination, the object of his pursuit, and
the date of his arrival. The report shall be recorded by the officer to whom it
is made.
8. Foreigners being masters of
vessels or employed therein to report themselves when they cease to be so
employed
The provisions of the last
two preceding sections shall not extend to any person being the master or
commander of a vessel or employed therein, but if any such person shall be in
any part of the Union of Burma in which provisions of the Act are for the time
being in force, after he shall have ceased to be actually employed in a vessel,
he shall forthwith report himself in the manner aforesaid.
9. Foreigners neglecting to
report themselves may be dealt with in like manner as foreigners travelling without a license
If any foreigner shall
neglect to report himself as required by ibis Act, be may be dealt with in the
manner hereinafter provided in respect of foreigners travelling
without a license.
10. No foreigners to travel in
the
No foreigner shall travel
in or pass through any part of the Union of Burma in which all the provisions
of this Act are for the time being in force without a license.
11. [Omitted]
12. What to be stated in
license
Every such license shall
state the name of the person to whom the license is granted, the nation to
which he belongs, the district or districts through which he is authorized to
pass or the limits within which he is authorized to travel, and the period if
any during which the license is intended to have effect.
13. License may be granted
subject to conditions and may be revoked
The license may be granted
subject to such conditions as the President of the
14. Foreigner travelling without or contrary to the conditions of license
may be apprehended
If any foreigner travel in
or attempt to pass through any part of the Union of Burma without such license
as aforesaid, or beyond the district or limits mentioned therein, or after such
license shall have been revoked, or shall violate an of the conditions therein
specified, he may be apprehended without warrant by any officer exercising any
of the powers of a Magistrate or by any police-officer.
15. Procedure upon
apprehension. Magistrate to report to the President
Whenever any person shall
be apprehended by or taken before the District Magistrate, such Magistrate
shall immediately report the case to the President of the
16. Persons apprehended may be
admitted to bail
Any person apprehended or
detained under the provisions of this Act may be admitted to bail by the
District Magistrate, or by any officer authorized to grant licenses, and shall
be put to as, little inconvenience as possible during his detention in custody.
17. Removal of persons
apprehended
The President of the Union
may order any person apprehended or detained under the provisions of this Act
to remove himself from any part of the Union of Burma in which all the
provisions of this Act are for the time being in force, by sea or by such route
as the President of the Union may direct; or the President of the Union may cause
him to be removed from any such, part of the Union of Burma by such route and
in such manner as to the President of the Union shall seem fit.
18. President may prohibit
persons not being citizens of the
The President of the Union
may by order prohibit any person or any class of persons (not being citizens of
the Union) from travelling in or passing through any
part of the Union of Burma in which all the provisions of this Act for the time
being, be in force, and from passing from any part thereof to another without a
license to he granted by such officer or officers as shall he specified in the
order; and, if any person so prohibited shall wilfully
disobey such order, he may be apprehended without warrant by any of the
officers specified in section 14 of this Act an carried before the District
Magistrate, and dealt with under the provisions of section 17 in the same
manner as if he were foreigner; and the President of the Union may order such a
person to be detained in safe custody or under the surveillance of the police
so long as it may be deemed necessary for the peace and security of the Union
of Burma or any part thereof.
19. [Omitted]
20. Certain officers may board
vessels to ascertain whether foreigners, are on board; Master of vessel to
furnish list of passengers, and to give information respecting them; Foreigners
refusing to give account of himself not to be allowed
to disembark
It shall be lawful for the
Commissioner of Police, or for the District Magistrate or for an officer
appointed to receive reports as mentioned in the sixth section of this Act, or
for any police-officer under the authority of such Commissioner or Magistrate,
to enter any vessel in any port or place within the Union of Burma in which all
the provisions of this Act may, for the time being, be in force, in order to
ascertain whether any foreigner bound to report his arrival under the said
section 6 of this Act is on board of such vessel; and it shall be lawful for
such Commissioner of Police, Magistrate or officer as aforesaid to adopt such
means as may be reasonably necessary for that purpose; and the master or
commander of such vessels shall also, before any of the passengers are allowed
to disembark, if he shall be required so do by such commissioner of Police,
Magistrate, or other officer as aforesaid, deliver to him a list in writing of
the passengers on board, specifying, the ports or places at which they
embarked, and the ports or places of their disembarkation, or intended
disembarkation, and answer to the best of his knowledge all such questions
touching the passengers on board the said vessel, or touching those who may
have disembarked in any part of the Union of Burma, as shall be put to him by
the Commissioner of Police, Magistrate, or other officer as aforesaid. If any
foreigner on board such vessel in any part of the Union of Burma shall refuse
to give an account of his objects of pursuit in the Union of Burma, or if his
account thereof shall not be satisfactory, the officer may refuse to allow him
to disembark, or he may be dealt with in the same manner as a foreigner travelling in the Union of Burma without a license.
21. Penalty for false answer or
report
If the master or commander
of a vessel shall wilfully give a false answer to any
question which by section 20 of this Act he is bound to answer, or shall make
an false report, he shall be held to have committed the office specified in
Section 177 of the Penal Code.
22. Penalty for neglect by
master of vessel to comply with requisitions of Act
If the master or commander
of any vessel shall wilfully neglect or refuse to
comply with the requisitions of this Act he shall, on conviction before the
District Magistrate, be liable to a fine not exceeding two thousand kyat.
23. Penalty for obstructing
officers
Whoever intentionally
obstructs any officer in the exercise of any of the powers vested him by this
Act shall be held to have committed the offence specified in section 186 of the
Pedal Code.
24. [Omitted]
25. Persons may be exempted
from provisions of this Act
The President of the
26. Bar to legal proceeding
No suit, prosecution or
other legal proceedings shall lie against any person for anything which is in
good faith done or intended to be done under this Act.
[Comments: This is the official text of the Act, originally as Indian Act III,
1864, dated 12 February 1864 with subsequent amendments, principally the
substitution of “President of the Union” for “Governor”.]
