More than 1,000 Pakistani people applied for Indian citizenship in 2016 according to India’s Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju.

“More than 12,800 applications for long term visa and more than 1,200 applications for grant of citizenship to Pakistani minorities have been received across the country,” the minister said on Wednesday.

Under the Indian Passport and Foreigners Act, Hindus and Sikhs from Bangladesh and Pakistan who have entered India on the basis of religious persecution on or before December 31 were allowed to stay in the country.

According to Rijiju, a number of Pakistani Hindus and Sikhs who entered India on pilgrimage visas have not returned to Pakistan on the grounds of religious persecution.

The minister added that all citizenship applications have been delegated to the district magistrates at the seven states were the applications were made.