Chandigarh November 17:
Worried over rising number of illegal immigrants coming from Punjab, the United Kingdom has urged the state government to enact Punjab Human Smuggling Act at the earliest.
As many as 4.5 lakh visa applications are being received by UK every year from India and 15% of these are from Punjab. So, London is very keen to curb human trafficking from the state, according to UK Border Agency regional director Chris Dix, who met Punjab chief secretary S C Agarwal. He told reporters that one of the main points discussed in the meeting was to curb human trafficking from Punjab.
"We hope to see this act enacted soon. It will give the police effective power to take action as it has the teeth to dig into the problem. With joint efforts, we will be able to combat this problem, which is being faced by not only the UK, but also Punjab police," he said. A similar meeting was held in August this year, between British immigration minister Damian Green and Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil in which DGP P S Gill was also present.
Ways of verifying documents submitted with visa applications were also discussed on Tuesday. Dix also plans to meet Punjab School Education Board to combat forgery cases. They plan to get the documents that students attach with their applications to universities directly verified from institutions to check their authenticity. Video conferencing will also be provided for police authorities in the UK and Punjab to make working easier and for mutual co-operation.
Worried over rising number of illegal immigrants coming from Punjab, the United Kingdom has urged the state government to enact Punjab Human Smuggling Act at the earliest.
As many as 4.5 lakh visa applications are being received by UK every year from India and 15% of these are from Punjab. So, London is very keen to curb human trafficking from the state, according to UK Border Agency regional director Chris Dix, who met Punjab chief secretary S C Agarwal. He told reporters that one of the main points discussed in the meeting was to curb human trafficking from Punjab.
"We hope to see this act enacted soon. It will give the police effective power to take action as it has the teeth to dig into the problem. With joint efforts, we will be able to combat this problem, which is being faced by not only the UK, but also Punjab police," he said. A similar meeting was held in August this year, between British immigration minister Damian Green and Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil in which DGP P S Gill was also present.
Ways of verifying documents submitted with visa applications were also discussed on Tuesday. Dix also plans to meet Punjab School Education Board to combat forgery cases. They plan to get the documents that students attach with their applications to universities directly verified from institutions to check their authenticity. Video conferencing will also be provided for police authorities in the UK and Punjab to make working easier and for mutual co-operation.
