Centre working on new law for safe, orderly migration

New Delhi: The government is seriously considering enacting a new legislation to establish an enabling framework that will promote safe, orderly and regular migration for overseas employment.

The proposal to frame a new law comes at a time when the US has deported 104 illegal Indian immigrants.

The proposed legislation on Emigration (Overseas Mobility (Facilitation and Welfare) Bill, 2024) seeks to replace the Emigration Act of 1983 with a view to facilitate the circular mobility of people intending to emigrate for overseas employment.

This has emerged from a report by the Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs chaired by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, which was presented in Parliament on Monday.

The panel also said it desires establishment of PoE (Protector of Emigrants) offices in states where such offices do not exist currently and additional PoE offices in "migration hotspots", including states like Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, etc, should be "expedited" to ensure better outreach and support for emigrants.

The Committee said the emigration process in India is governed by the Emigration Act of 1983, administered by the Ministry of External Affairs through the Protector General of Emigrants (PGE).

"Keeping in view the contemporary global migration dynamics and the needs of Indian citizens, the Committee has over the years underscored the pressing need for a comprehensive legislative overhaul to replace the outdated provisions of the Emigration Act 1983," the report says.

"After much delay, the Ministry is seriously considering enacting a new law tentatively titled 'Overseas Mobility (Facilitation and Welfare) Bill, 2024,'" it said.

The Ministry has told the Committee that the proposed draft is under consultation with line Ministries and will, thereafter, be put up for public consultations," it said.

The Committee has said it desires that it should be "consulted on the salient features of the Bill" and the enactment of a revised act reflecting "changed global migration realities should be done in a time bound manner i.e. not later than one year".

An update about the progress made in this regard may be submitted to the Committee within three months, it added.

The report further said that "after the internal consultations draft will be put up for public consultation for 15/30 days thereafter it will be followed up by Inter Ministerial Consultations along with the Draft Cabinet Note on revised draft".

The Ministry has also informed that the Protector General of Emigrants (PGE) oversees the functioning of all Protector of Emigrants (PoE) offices across India.

"As of now there are 14 offices of the Protector of Emigrants (POEs) located at Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Cochin, Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur, Raebareli, Patna, Bengaluru, Guwahati and Ranchi. In order to expand the outreach of the PoEs, the Ministry has established additional PoE offices in Patna, Bengaluru and Guwahati, which are fully functional," it said.

Additional offices are being planned in Tripura, Bhubaneswar and Ahmedabad, the report said.

Underlining the need to spread awareness about safe migration, the Committee has recommend that the "Ministry should collaborate with local civil society groups, media outlets in the most affected regions to ensure that emigrants are fully informed about their rights, processes involved and the risks of illegal migration".

In addition, the Committee has urged that all citizens departing India should be given basic information at the immigration counters.

A US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal immigrants from various states landed in Amritsar in Punjab on Wednesday, the first such batch of Indians deported by the Trump government as part of a crackdown against illegal immigrants.