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Indian immigrants allege harassment

LONDON: Indian immigrants have complained of harassment at British airports on returning to the U.K. from trips abroad, according to Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) Forum, a non-profit organisation campaigning for the rights of skilled migrants.

The Forum, which has taken up the issue with immigration authorities, cited the case of Sujit Nair, who was allegedly harassed at the Glasgow airport after returning from a holiday in India.

“The immigration officer at the Glasgow airport bombarded me with questions. Subsequently, I was questioned by a police officer despite having permanent residency in the U.K. I felt very intimidated and unwelcome,” said Dr. Nair, who works at the National Health Service (NHS).

The Forum said that similar complaints had come from non-EU (European Union) immigrants, but a majority were from the Asians.

“How did their employer allow them to go on a long holiday?”, “Why had they chosen to work in a particular field?” and “Why didn’t they find a job in some other area?” were some of the “irrelevant” questions the “interrogation” usually consisted of.

Amit Kapadia, Executive Director of the Forum, said they were treated like “criminals.” “We are very concerned and have raised the matter with the U.K. Border Agency. However, the explanation given was not satisfactory. Immigration officers are being issued with absolute power to detain legitimate, hard-working immigrants based on grounds of suspicion alone and without any reasonable doubt,” Mr. Kapadia said.

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