India needs better immigration laws to avoid Iraq-like hostage situation: Amnesty

Thiruvananthapuram: Amnesty International on Friday urged the Centre to come out with a strong immigration law to avoid situations like the present crisis faced by Indian nurses in strife-torn Iraq. [caption id=“attachment_1603079” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. IBNLive[/caption] Releasing the copy of a research report on visa fraud and alleged human rights violations faced by Indian migrants in Saudi Arabia, Amnesty said the evacuation of Indian nurses could have been made earlier if they had been paid their salaries in time. “According to reports, many of the nurses had not received their salaries in the last few months. If they were paid on time, they would have showed readiness to quit the country much before and the present situation could have been averted,” Amnesty International India CEO G Ananthapadmanabhan and Deputy CEO Shashikumar Velath told a press meet in Thiruvananthapuram. They said that recent events in Iraq had been a harsh reminder of the risks that Indian migrant workers face in the countries they work. The outfit also said the Union government should pay more focus on the working conditions and job security of Indians working outside. PTI