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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2018
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Sikh asylum cases see big spurt in Canada Number of asylum seekers in Canada from India, majority are Sikhs, soars by over 300 per cent JAIDEEP SARIN, CHANDIGARH
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he number of asylum seekers in Canada from India, a majority of them Sikhs, has soared by over 300 per cent in the past two years alone, with the Canadian government agencies acknowledging “renewed support for separatism in the Punjab region”. The ‘Refugee Claims Analysis Report’ (RCAR), compiled by the Intelligence and Analysis section of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), which IANS has accessed, shows that in the first six months of 2018, the number of refugee claims (asylum seeking applications) shot up to 1,805, surpassing the total figure of 1,487 claims made in the entire 2017. The refugee claims made in the first six months of 2018 are over 310 per cent of the total claims made in 2016, which stood at 582. And there is no end to the claims being made, with Canadian authorities expecting the number of cases to jump up to 4,200 this year (2018) - an increase of nearly 720 per cent over 2016 and nearly 285 per cent compared to figures of 2017.
Professor in US used ‘students as servants’ WASHINGTON: An Indian-origin professor in the US compelled his students to act as his personal servants, a daily said. The Kansas City Ashim Mitra Star daily in a report said that it had found that over professor Ashim Mitra’s 24 years as a leader in the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Pharmacy, his students hauled equipment and bused tables at his social events. The students’ complaints were corroborated by Mitra’s former colleagues, who told the daily that they saw the students performing menial tasks off campus or heard their complaints. According to allegations in pending litigation, the University not only knew about Mitra’s behavior, but administrators overlooked complaints for years because he was among the most successful faculty members in corralling millions in research dollars for the school. Mitra has denied the allegations. —IANS
“While claims were filed in all CBSA regions, most were filed in QUE (Quebec province) region (1,363), specifically at Montreal Immigration (898),” the RCAR pointed out. A total of 1,088 of these were male applicants and 717 females. “With over 1,800 claims, midyear numbers for 2018 have
filed by Indian Sikhs.” The refugee claims made in Canada by Indians in 2015, 2014 and 2013 were 379, 292 and 225 respectively. From the 15th rank among countries in 2016 from where refugee claims were coming, India touched a dubious No. 2 rank, right behind Nigeria (at No. 1;
The refugee claims made in the first six months of 2018 are over 310 per cent of the total claims made in 2016, which stood at 582 already surpassed total 2017 numbers. Indian nationals made the majority (63 per cent) of their claims at inland offices (1,145), followed by airport mode (614 claims; 34 per cent). Most claimants were born in Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu,” the report has stated. The RCAR, in a critical tone, pointed out: “A frequent basis of claim cited by Indian nationals is the fear of arbitrary arrest or abuse by the police based on accusations of supporting militant organisations. It should be noted that the vast majority of these claims are
6,166 claims in 2018 till June) among claimants. What is significant about the observations made in the RCAR findings is the fact that the Canadian authorities have officially acknowledged that there was mounting tension between the Indian government and the Sikh population and the renewed support for separatism in Punjab. “Tensions are rising between the Indian government and the country’s Sikh population due to concern over renewed support for separatism in the Punjab region. Between the 1970s and 1990s, the
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Khalistan movement called for the establishment of a Sikh homeland in Punjab. Contemporary support has since re-emerged around proposals for an unofficial referendum of the global Sikh diaspora in 2020 on the question of independence,” the report stated. “In light of current tensions between the Indian government and the Sikh community, it can also be expected that claimants will continue to include a large number
of individuals born in Punjab or Haryana. It is anticipated that the total claims entered by nationals of India will continue to increase in 2018 to 4,200 claims. The Indian government, though not openly, has accused the Canadian government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of going soft on separatist elements and groups operating in Canada who are trying to revive the separatist movement in Punjab.
India gets wealthier, more Indians leave its shores TISH SANGHERA, MUMBAI
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n estimated 17 million Indians were living abroad in 2017, making India the largest source country for international migrants globally, up from seven million in 1990 and a 143 per cent increase, according to an IndiaSpend analysis of data from the United Nations Department of Economic Affairs. Over the same period, India’s per capita income increased by 522 per cent (from $1,134 to $7,055), providing more people the means to travel abroad in search of employment opportunities they were not finding at home. At the same time, the number of unskilled migrants leaving the country has been falling: An estimated 391,000 left India in 2017, almost half the number in 2011 (637,000), according to a new report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). However, this does not necessarily mean that an increasing proportion of India’s emigrants are likely to be higher skilled or that policymakers should be worried about a
PM Narendra Modi with Indian diaspora in Sydney. (File Photo: IANS)
rise in “brain drain”. The above figures refer to unskilled migrants travelling on Emigration Check Required (ECR) passports -- passports issued by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs to those leaving for employment in certain countries in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Changes in the government criteria used to class workers as unskilled, leading to more migrants travelling on non-ECR passports, could be part of the rea-
son for the declining trend. Over almost three decades, between 1990-2017, India witnessed waves of skilled and unskilled labour emigration. Indians living in Qatar increased 82,669 per cent — from 2,738 to 2.2 million — over 27 years to 2017, more than in any other country. In the two years between 2015-2017, the Indian population in Qatar more than tripled. Oman (688 per cent) and the United Arab Emirates (622 per
cent) also feature in the top 10 countries for the largest increases in Indian residents between 19902017, while in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, over seven years to 2017, Indian populations rose by 110 per cent and 78 per cent, respectively. Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, for example, have seen their Indian populations grow by 66, 56 and 42 per cent, respectively, over seven years to 2017. They are cheaper and have better educational opportunities.”For example, Germany has free education and there’s the potential to land a job in the country after university too, so you’re seeing a shift in migration,” Sharma said. However, while these data show the numbers from each state leaving on ECR passports, they do not indicate how many have switched to non-ECR passports. Kerala may still be seeing large numbers of its population emigrate despite a decline in 2016 and 2017 in the ECR category. India received the largest remittances globally in 2017, with close to $70 billion landing in the country’s banks accounts.
