CARIM-INDIA – DEVELOPING A KNOWLEDGE BASE FOR POLICYMAKING ON INDIA-EU MIGRATION Co-financed by the European Union Irregular migration from India to the EU: Punjab & Haryana Case Study K.C. Saha CARIM-India Research Report 2012/28 © 2012. All rights reserved. No part of this paper may be distributed, quoted or reproduced in any form without permission from the CARIM-India Project. CARIM-India Developing a knowledge base for policymaking on India-EU migration Research Report Thematic Paper CARIM-India RR 2012/28 Irregular migration from India to the EU: Punjab & Haryana Case Study K.C. Saha Honorary Research Fellow, Institute of Social Sciences, Delhi © 2012, European University Institute Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies This text may be downloaded only for personal research purposes. Any additional reproduction for other purposes, whether in hard copies or electronically, requires the consent of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. Requests should be addressed to [email protected] If cited or quoted, reference should be made as follows: K.C. Saha, Irregular migration from India to the EU: Punjab & Haryana Case Study, CARIM-India RR 2012/28, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, San Domenico di Fiesole (FI): European University Institute, 2012. THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS PUBLICATION CANNOT IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BE REGARDED AS THE OFFICIAL POSITION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION European University Institute Badia Fiesolana I – 50014 San Domenico di Fiesole (FI) Italy http://www.eui.eu/RSCAS/Publications/ http://www.india-eu-migration.eu/publications/ http://cadmus.eui.eu CARIM-India – Developing a knowledge base for policymaking on India-EU migration This project is co-financed by the European Union and carried out by the EUI in partnership with the Indian Council of Overseas Employment, (ICOE), the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore Association, (IIMB), and Maastricht University (Faculty of Law). The proposed action is aimed at consolidating a constructive dialogue between the EU and India on migration covering all migration-related aspects. The objectives of the proposed action are aimed at: • Assembling high-level Indian-EU expertise in major disciplines that deal with migration (demography, economics, law, sociology and politics) with a view to building up migration studies in India. This is an inherently international exercise in which experts will use standardised concepts and instruments that allow for aggregation and comparison. These experts will belong to all major disciplines that deal with migration, ranging from demography to law and from economics to sociology and political science. • Providing the Government of India as well as the European Union, its Member States, the academia and civil society, with: 1. Reliable, updated and comparative information on migration 2. In-depth analyses on India-EU highly-skilled and circular migration, but also on low-skilled and irregular migration. • Making research serve action by connecting experts with both policy-makers and the wider public through respectively policy-oriented research, training courses, and outreach programmes. These three objectives will be pursued with a view to developing a knowledge base addressed to policy-makers and migration stakeholders in both the EU and India. Results of the above activities are made available for public consultation through the website of the project: http://www.india-eu-migration.eu/ For more information: CARIM-India Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (EUI) Convento Via delle Fontanelle 19 50014 San Domenico di Fiesole Italy Tel: +39 055 46 85 817 Fax: + 39 055 46 85 770 Email: [email protected] Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies http://www.eui.eu/RSCAS/ ABBREVIATIONS BBC British Broad Casting Corporation CDC Cadet Discharge Certificate DC Deputy Commissioner of a district $ US Dollar (1US$=`59) DSP Deputy Superintendant of Police EC Emergency Certificate EMN European Migration Network EU European Union € Euro (1€=`69) FIR First Information Report IELTS International English Testing System IG Inspector General of Police IOM International Organization of Migration LAKH 100,000 IPC Indian Penal Code MEA Ministry of External Affairs MHA Ministry of Home Affairs MOIA Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs NRI Non Resident Indian PS Police station R/O Resident of ` Indian rupees (Rs) SP Superintendent of Police SSP Senior Superintendent of Police UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UWT Undocumented Worker Transitions Definitions and Terminology Agent An agent in the context of the study is someone who facilitates irregular migration. Arrival Irregularities in travel detected by the authorities when irregular migrant arrived from cases other countries. District An administrative unit within a state. District in the study means the district to which the irregular migrant belongs. Deportee A deportee for the purpose of study is any person who has violated the terms of his or her admission to a country of destination and has been deported from there. People who have been refused admission and deported and also people who have not been allowed to depart from the country of origin by the immigration authorities have also been included in this category. For the purpose of the study the term deportee has been used synonymously with the term ‘irregular migrant’. Doaba An area comprising of districts of Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Nawanshahr. Irregular Defining who is an irregular migrant is complex. Some migrants enter another territory migrant illegally by land, air or by sea. Some use false or forged documents. Some try to enter on an individual basis; others make use of organized criminal networks. A significant proportion of irregular residents enter legally with a valid visa or under a visa-free regime, but stay beyond the expiry date of the visa or change the purpose of stay without the approval of authorities. Failed asylum seekers enter into an illegal status if they do not leave the country once all considerations of their asylum application have been exhausted. The other terms commonly used for an irregular migrant are undocumented, illegal, clandestine or unauthorized. Malwa An area comprising of districts of Barnala, Bhatinda, Firozpur, Ludhiana, Moga, Mohali, Patiala, Rajpura and Sangrur. Majha An area comprising of districts of Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran Previous The author had studied irregular migration from Punjab & Haryana and published a report study titled “Smuggling of Migrants from India to Europe and in particular to UK: A Study on Punjab & Haryana” on behalf of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in 2009 based on the data of irregular migration in 2005, 2006 and 2007 recorded at Indira Gandhi International airport at Delhi. (available at http://www.unodc.org/documents/human- trafficking/Smuggling_of_Migrants_from_India_to_Europe_-_Punjab_Haryana.pdf). State The state in the study means the state to which a deportee belongs. India is a federation of 28 states. Each state is divided into smaller administrative units called districts. Sub- A sub-agent for the purpose of the study is a person who operates for a principal agent in agent sending migrants irregularly to other countries. Union An administrative unit governed by the Central Government. territory Map of Punjab Districts highly prone to irregular migration Map of Haryana Districts highly prone to irregular migration Abstract This paper presents the current status of irregular migration from the State of Punjab and Haryana in India to the EU. The author had studied irregular migration from these two states and brought out a report titled “Smuggling of Migrants from India to Europe and in particular to UK: A Study on Punjab & Haryana” on behalf of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in 2009 based on the data of irregular migration in 2005, 2006 and 2007 recorded at Indira Gandhi International airport at Delhi. The present study is based on examination of 1173 records of irregular migration recorded at Indira Gandhi International airport at Delhi. These records relate to 252 case records of 2008, 292 case records of 2009, 300 case records of 2010, 240 case records of 2011 and 89 case records of 2012 (up to August). It discusses changes if any in the trends and volume of irregular migration; demographic profile of irregular migrants; reasons for irregular migration; destination countries; the migration routes to Europe with points of transit; profile of agents and their modus operandi; the fees paid to agents and the measures taken to curb irregular migration. Introduction Punjab is a state in northwest India, bordered by Pakistan in the west, Jammu Kashmir in the north, Himachal Pradesh in the northeast, and Rajasthan in the southwest. Haryana is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh on the north, Rajasthan on the west and south, by Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh on the east. Haryana also surrounds Delhi the national capital on three sides, forming the northern, western and southern border of Delhi. Consequently, a large part of Haryana is included in the National Capital Region. The Punjab has a long tradition of international migration, specially from the central Doaba region comprising of Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, and Nawanshahr(new name Sahid Bhagat Singh Nagar) districts. The author had studied irregular migration from Punjab & Haryana and published a report titled “Smuggling of Migrants from India to Europe and in particular to UK: A Study on