POST-INDEPENDENCE MIGRATION TO HIGH-WAGE ECONOMIES

Post-independence, Indians started to migrate to UK as the country needed labour force post WWII. But Commonwealth Immigration Act of 1962 put severe restrictions on free immigration from earlier colonies. In the meantime, in USA, Immigration Act of 1965, removed quota system for immigration. By the late 1960s, overt racial discrimination in immigration policy was gone from Canadian immigration legislation and regulations. This opened Canada's doors to many of those who would previously have been rejected as being "undesirable" based on race or ethnicity. In 1971, for the first time in Canadian history, majority of those immigrating into Canada were of non-European ancestry. Europe also needed labour which enabled immigration. Europeans were also quite liberal in accepting refugees and asylum seekers. So, migration to North America and Europe got a boost. Sikhs migration increased substantially as asylum seekers from mid 1980s because of anti-Sikh riots in India. Indian migration, in general, sharply increased from mid 1990s especially as highly qualified workers were needed for computer related and other high-tech businesses. Indians have made their mark in these spheres - presently several CEOs of globally renowned MNCs are of Indian origin. STUDENTS: India ranks second among the world's largest students sending countries after China. USA continues to be preferred destination for Indian students. 7.5 million students are studying abroad with the largest number being in USA 0.2 million, Canada 0.1 million, Australia 87,000 and New Zealand 30,000.

TEMPORARY LABOUR MIGRATION TO WEST ASIA

Government of India sources referred to earlier on, there are about 8 million people of Indian origin in the Gulf countries. Significant migration from India to the Persian Gulf began in the 1970s, following the oil boom. Since then, an increasing number of semi and unskilled workers from South India have worked in the gulf countries on temporary migration schemes. It is estimated that about 8 million Indians were living in the gulf countries in 2018, 70 per cent of them in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.