IMMIGRATION IN PUNJAB- the very sentence snaps shots of screaming news headlines that only put before us in words the tearful plight of gullible aspirants who fall prey to the dream merchants of illegal immigration.

“Investigations reveal that 10,000 to 20,000 able-bodied youth from Punjab contribute to this flourishing business each year by paying anything between Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 25 lac each on being promised greener pastures abroad. The destinations are mainly the USA, Canada, Australia, UK, England, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Greece.”

A publication by the NDTV revealed that:

  • There are over 15,000 Punjab youth languishing in the prisons of various countries after being duped and dumped by travel agents. Only a few hundred have returned home in the last couple of years to tell their tale of woe.
  • Over 1,500 youth have already been killed or are missing after being sent abroad, especially to Iraq and some Middle East countries.
  • Nearly 15,000 abandoned brides are waiting in their homes across Punjab for their NRI husbands to take them abroad. In some cases, the wait has been over 10 years.

If these figures are not enough to move us, what we see here in newspapers is merely a tip of an iceberg. People, especially from Punjab, are being traded across borders like commodities. The most common frauds include sending people abroad on employment where no legitimate assignment or work permit exists, holiday marriage- where an NRI comes to Punjab for a holiday and gets married to a girl concealing his marital status, sham marriages entered into by NRIs with young women from Punjab

with the promise of taking them abroad later, and, virtually depositing people with the counterpart agent abroad who is expected to make arrangements for their transition to a more sought after foreign land or even leaving them abandoned.

The British Minister for Immigration Tony Machnalty informed that during the current year, till October end, 757 cases of illegal immigrants from Punjab had already been recorded in the UK.

The governmental agencies claim to be constantly making concentrated efforts to curb the crime however this is done largely after the crime has been committed. Little is being done for prevention of immigration crime as the governmental battery comes into operation only after the crime is reported. The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) is currently running an awareness campaign against illegal immigration in an attempt to nib the evil in the bud. However, to the population at large such campaigns might seem uninspiring as compared to the glittering illusions of life abroad, the youth of Punjab, would rather feast their minds on.

We often deplore the law and order enforcement agencies for falling short on effectively fishing out the offenders; however, little do we recognize that if action is the responsibility of the government, prevention is ours. If we so seriously mean to pull the plug on illegal immigration menace, first we as aspirants for going abroad need an immediate attitude check. The crusade against bribery and dowry could not have gone far with merely the government shouting slogans in the air unless those giving the bribe and dowry were also identified as the other ring of the two-ring circus.

It is ironical that if a family pays an agent a whopping amount parting away with the sole means of a square meal and bare survival, but if, is fortunate enough to safely transport the son or daughter abroad, no fingers are pointed at the unscrupulousness of the agent who administered the entire fraud. Rather, the triumph which is then perceived as a well engineered gateway heartens dozens of others who become the first-hand witnesses of a fantasy translating into reality They parallel the custom which further fires a fission reaction. The rat race ropes in people in numbers and those for whom the plan miscarries plead victims to the state or law. On the flip side, a mere handful of hard-nosed agents are taken to task while others make headway unsurpassed.

Illegal immigration has been a favorite drawing room conversation for many, an emotive political mandate during elections, stereotype discussion forum amongst a brigade of news panelists and a top priority on the crime prevention agenda. However, little contemplation is allowed to factor in the genesis of this outlaw. Punjab homes a large number of Indians with families abroad who probably leave for foreign land with some hope for greener pastures and return rich and boisterous. NRIs flaunt the riches which they accumulate over the year for the long-planned annual holiday jaunt to India, making their kin feel like lesser morals. Young Punjabis confused between the career choices their family’s financial abilities allow find nothing fitting enough to nourish their get-rich-quick-fantasies than going abroad for a fast track success. The gamble game that comes to them with a high price tag is seen as the only resort to get them abroad within days without the hassles usually associated with the tedious paperwork and waiting periods of legal immigration. The stray incidences of those managing to become regularized abroad despite illegal routes further reinforce their unlawful intent.

For the fantasy of shores far away, many youngsters who steer clear of employment opportunities in India in order to keep the pressure tight on their families to send them abroad. Many take to drug addiction over frustration for not making it abroad or due to unrelenting parents unwilling to part with a big chunk of their assets. The fact that no onus is placed on the not-so-gullible aspirant of illegal immigration in case the plan backfires gets their skates on and makes it worthy of an attempt. A hope for recovering their money from the agent once the aspirant pleads victim to the law enforcement also alienates the few shreds of fear associated with the risk of losing their money. A complete mockery of the law is made when the aspirant contrives an illegal entry into another country, breaking the law hand in glove with the agent, and later plays victim before the same law enforcement agencies and strangely pulls off being absolved of the culpability.

As a wake up call some conscientious thought needs to be put in, where those sending people abroad through illegal means and those going abroad through illegal means, should both, be branded as defaulters, so that the high incidence of illegal migration is de-escalated and the long-standing supply-and-demand nexus of illegal immigration is finally busted.