India asks West not to place barriers to lawful immigration

Brussels, July 13 (IANS) Developed Countries receives substantial economical benefits from migratory workers and should, thus, not grow needless barriers that can head to negatives such as improper migration, according to a senior official in India's international ministry.

"Furthermore, there is need to effectively address discrimination and prejudices of all kinds including pejorative labelling and stereotyping" of immigrants, Manjiiv Singh Puri, joint secretary, ministry of external affairs, told delegates at the Global Forum on Migration and Development here, reported news agency INEPNEXT.

Last year, India received $23.6 billion in remittances from migrant workers making the country the highest recipient of inward remittances.

But "more that half of this originated in the Gulf, where a large number of our citizens participate in the development process of the countries there", noted Puri, who chaired the session on 'Working with Diaspora for Development'.

It is estimated that around 25 million people of Indian origin live in other countries while another 20 million migrants, including a large number of irregular migrants, are in India.

"India favours a regular, non-discriminatory and orderly process for our citizens proceeding overseas, whether for permanent or shorter term migration," the Indian official stressed.

The three-day forum which attracted 155 UN member states and over 800 participants ended Wednesday night in Brussels.

"You converted this meeting into a landmark in the migration and development debate, with frank and interesting exchanges of experiences and many concrete suggestions for further action," declared the chair of this inaugural Global Forum, Ambassador Regine De Clercq of Belgium.

It was announced that the Philippines would host the second global forum in 2008.

The Prime Minister of Belgium Guy Verhofstadt and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had inaugurated the forum.