PARLIAMENT OF WORLD'S RELIGIONS

Sikhs organised 'langars' at all the 'Parliament of the World's Religions Conferences" held in this century beginning with Barcelona, Spain in 2004. A news clipping - 'Langar at Parliament of World's Religions, Spain' 'Sikhs Serve Traditional Communal Meal at Parliament of World's Religions (Spain)', by Staff Writer, Chicago, Tribune, 13 July 2004. Langar was served to 4,000 to 8,000 attendees daily. The hosts are hundreds of Sikhs from India, Canada, the United States and Great Britain. The guests are participants at the Parliament of the World's Religions. An enormous white tent serves as the dining room which the Sikhs set up along Barcelona's seafront, close to where the parliament is holding a weeklong conference. This was followed by other conferences held at the following venues: 2009 Melbourne, Australia 2015 Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. 2018 Toronto, Canada. 2023 Chicago, IL, USA. I have no doubt, langar will be provided by Sikhs at this conference as it has become customary.

ILLEGALS

So far as illegal migration is concerned, it is spread globally but is more targeted at Europe and North America. The problem of illegals is comparatively less pronounced in South America and Asia Pacific region in terms of numbers. However, in Europe Illegal migration is a major issue and despite the hardships of 'donkeying' their way to Europe-this modus operandi continues to be popular. In some cases, it took the migrants more than a year before reaching their destination. All European countries (EU and non-EU) experience illegal migration. France, UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Greece have a large number of illegals. Although undocumented migration has always been part of the wider migration flows towards Europe, including during the post-war labour migration waves, it has become critical in European public discourse since the 1990s. Reasons for irregular migration are economic, social, and cultural. Punjabi fascination for alien shores translates into a fanatical mania bordering on suicidal desperation, tragic tales of illegal immigration, of unrequited ambition, of dreams turnings sour, of precious lives lost, are written and re-written. Even today an average Punjabi youth would go to any lengths, bear any cost, and adopt any means-legal or illegal-to cross the seven seas and start a new life in a new country. And the faster the law catches up, the more ingenuous he becomes. The majority of irregular migrants are in the age group of 21-30 followed by the age group of 31-40. Irregular migration of women is estimated to be less than 10 per cent. The routes for irregular migration are varied but some more popular routes are via Russia and countries in the East Europe. Entry via Greece from Turkey has been continuing for many years. Another route of late is via Georgia. Some irregular migrants have entered Spain via North Africa for example through Mali, Morocco.