Libya barred, other war zones open
Earlier in 2014 the government banned travel to Iran but it was revoked later
Hyderabad: The travel of Emigration Clearance Required category workers to Libya from India has been temporarily suspended by the Centre. However, emigration to other conflict riddled countries like Iran, Iraq, Syria, Palestine etc. are still allowed.
Earlier in 2014 the government banned travel to Iran but it was revoked later. Migrants from the city travel for jobs to these countries mainly for jobs as software engineers and professors.
Ironically, however, although there is data on the number of shoes or cars exported from India, there is no clear idea about the number of Telugu migrants.
Kotapati Narasimha Naidu, president of Migrants Rights Forum, said, “There are two types of jobs in these countries. One is white collar. It is comparatively high in Libya with salaries of Rs 2-3 lakh. Mostly software engineers, educators and medical professionals go for this. The second category are labourers who earn around RS 30,000 to 40,000 a month.
The issue is that many do not go through the Overseas Manpower Company (TS and AP have separate offices) which is a government run agency that checks on troubled areas and gives advisories.
Most white collar migrants go through private agents (only four companies in India have license but thousands operate illegally) who have direct contact with companies or universities abroad.
The visa and emigration clearance is all done by the recruiter and they offer other perks like stay at the company’s accommodation, provision to bring along family and also company paid travel.
However when unfortunate situations occur most of these agents or the employers don’t take responsibility. Only a few employers release them from contract and help them return to India.
“So far we have no information about the number of Telugus working in these countries, but our helpline is 9440854433. Anyone in trouble can always approach the department,”said officials from the TS NRI cell.
According to the Emigration Act, 1983, Emigration Check Required categories of Indian passport holders need to obtain ‘Emigration Clearance' from the office of the Protector of Emigrants for going to 18 countries.
The countries where Emigration Clearance Required is mandatory are Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Malaysia, Libya, Jordan, Yemen, Sudan, Brunei, Afghanistan, Indonesia and Syria.