Panaji, Dec 1 (IANS) The central government will soon enact the Immigration Management Act, which will provide for a safe environment for migration, a senior official of the overseas Indian affairs (OIA) ministry said Tuesday.
Speaking during the inaugural session of the 8th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) conference on Migration and Development at The Lalit resort here, OIA Secretary K. Mohandas said: “The new (proposed) legislation Immigration Management Act will provide for safe migration and fight illegal human trafficking.”

Noting that immigration was one of the most seriously debated global issues after the state of the global economy and climate change, Mohandas hoped that ASEM would be able to come up with ideas and a plan of action for better and more efficient management of the migration process.

“It is in the best interest of the world that people do move. Our policy is focused on the facilitation of legal migration and strengthening the linkages between migration and development,” he said.

“Migration is also being recognised as a force of nature. Hence human intervention should help in better management of the migration process,” Mohandas said.

He said that it was necessary to have bilateral labour treaties between major labour receiving countries, adding that India has such treaties with most countries in the Gulf region, barring Saudi Arabia.

“We would also like to work with the European Union. We already have a memorandum of understanding with Denmark. We are also happy with Sweden’s open policy,” he said, adding that efforts need to be taken to prevent illegal migration into and from India.

The ASEM, over the last 12 years, has been the main multilateral channel for communication between Asia and Europe, strengthening interaction and mutual understanding between the two regions in the area of migration through the Conference of the Directors General of Immigration. A total of 30 delegates from 12 Asian countries and 30 delegates from 18 European countries are attending the 8th ASEM conference.