Newindpress

Bangalore, Jul 12: Over two lakh Indians, including 30,000 Bangaloreans will be deported from the Gulf within two months.

These Indians, mostly from the lower middle class, have been found to be illegal immigrants. City police said they will be deported from September onwards.

Following a sudden spurt in illegal immigrants from India looking for lucrative jobs in Gulf countries, the city immigration wing has decided to use better detection methods. This is cited to be the most common problem in the Gulf, especially with Indians, say the police.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Intelligence Krishna Bhat told this paper that the Gulf police authorities had intimated the city police about a large chunk of illegal immigrants from India, who had been tracked over a period of six months.

„These are people mostly from Bangalore, Kochi and Hyderabad. They are usually lured by unauthorised agents, who promise them well paying jobs in Gulf countries. They spend all their savings on getting a passport and go there in groups,” he said.

Later, after they reach there, the employers and the agents, retain the passports with them. They are mostly uneducated and semi-educated people, who work as construction labourers and other middle rung jobs in the Gulf. Over 30,000 people have been identified to be from Bangalore and the immigration wing is waiting for dates of their arrival.

„It will lead to a lot of pressure on the officers. We have decided to beef up immigration checks. Though the detection rate has gone up in Bangalore, we have to prevent such illegal activities,” he said.

According to Bhat, at least 50 percent of the remaining are from Kerala and have been picked up from Dubai and Oman. „Some of them have also been caught travelling with just emergency documents, while their passports are missing,” he said.

The people being deported are mostly youths and middle-aged men and women. At least 10 percent of them are women, said Bhat. Stating that this would not fall under the list of human trafficking, Bhat said it calls for better immigration checks.

„The agents who get them the passports and jobs are all across the country and most of them are familiar with Gulf countries. Usually they are relatives or even acquaintances. We will question the people when they land in Bangalore and get leads to the agents,” he said.