Indians face immigration trouble in UK

By OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

London

Oct. 2: Indian visitors from coming to Britain for a holiday and even the ones with residency rights in the country are facing harassment by immigration authorities at airports.

Campaign group HSMP Forum Ltd, which was successful in its legal challenge against retrospective application of tougher immigration rules for highly-skilled migrants, said it has complained to the Border and Immigration Agency about the increase in incidents of harassment.

"We regularly receive emails and telephone calls about the harassment and discrimination our members, who are in the UK under the skilled migrant visa, suffer from overly-zealous immigration officers. Our members complain that upon their and their families’ return from trips abroad they are harshly discriminated against by the immigration authorities, though they are fully legally entitled to re-enter the country to continue contributing to the UK economy," Amit Kapadia, executive director of the lobby group, said.

The harassment is not confined to a single airport and has been reported from Heathrow, Manchester and Belfast airports, according to HSMP Forum.

A senior journalist, working for a newspaper in New Delhi, too reported a similar experience last week. The journalist, who is here for a 10-day holiday, was questioned for about 15 minutes about the credentials and the career of the friend she was staying with in London. Describing the experience as "harrowing," the journalist, who is widely travelled, said the questions in themselves made little sense and seemed to be focused on increasing her discomfort.

The forum too has highlighted the cases of Indians on a long-term work visas in Britain, who in recent months have faced trouble with immigration authorities at airports despite having paperwork in clear.

The HSMP Forum, which is studying the complaints, said it is also looking at the issue of racial discrimination.

"We are always willing to cooperate and coordinate with the implementing bodies for smooth operations of their guidelines.

However, we will not tolerate any such racial discrimination, harassment and unlawful actions of any of their officers towards migrants. We would like to be assured fully that such activities will not be repeated now nor ever again, otherwise we will have no choice other than to seek legal remedies," Mr Kapadia said.