Chennai becoming a hotbed of illegal migration

CHENNAI: With unemployed youths from interior districts of Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states setting off for overseas destinations in search of greener pastures, often using illegal means, the city is witnessing an increase in the number of immigration offences over the years.

Chennai has become one of the most sought after places by illegal migrants, who often use the international airport here as the transit point to overseas destinations, police said.

In 2008, a total of 103 cases of immigration offences were registered, an increase of 11 per cent over the 92 cases filed the previous year, City Crime Bureau (CCB) sources said.

Apart from people from Tamil Nadu, migrants from Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, some northern states and even those from Sri Lanka use Chennai as the transit point to travel abroad illegally, they said.

The illegal immigration came to fore last November when Managing Director of Saravana Bhavan group of hotels, a popular chain, P R Shivakumar was arrested for allegedly preparing fake documents for four of his employees with an ulterior motive of getting US visas under the pretext of visiting a expo and get them employed in America.

A recent United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) study on Tamil Nadu- 'Smuggling of Migrants from India to Europe and in particular to the UK', revealed agents, who promise youngsters of good jobs abroad, have adopted different methods of operation including forgery of passports and photo substitution in passports.

The study said the cases of "irregular" migration were particularly large in certain areas of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

An overall trend of rising irregular migration and the proliferation of large number of sub-agents in rural areas was noted during the field visits by the UN officials.

Fake Emmigration Check Not Required (ECNR) stamps accounts for 27 per cent of the offences committed by the agents while about 43 per cent of irregular migrants were in the age group of 21-30, the study said.

It says that most of the irregular migrants, who had gone especially to UK, paid between Rs five lakh to Rs six lakh to the agents.

The study also noted if a migrant failed to reach his destination, the agents were refunding the money in only a few cases. Cheating by an agent was very difficult to establish in the absence of any documentary proof of payment of money and, as a result, the sub-agents, even if arrested, are releaed by the courts within a short period.

While the law enforcement authorities manage to take action against sub-agents, most of the agents, in Chennai and other places, escape any action.