UK gets 2,500 asylum pleas from Indians

The modus operandi is mostly similar. Such persons have a transit halt at Heathrow airport where they destroy their passports, claim they are persecuted back in India and seek asylum in UK.

Unscrupulous travel agents in India are also known to lure aspirants and make money.

In August, five of a team of visiting women cricketers went missing. Three have since returned but the whereabouts of the remaining two are still not known.

Indians continue to be among the largest asylum seekers in the UK. There are sizeable numbers in this category from Somalia, Zimbabwe, China, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan and Congo. ‘‘It is a major problem,’’ industrialist Lord Swaraj Paul said, adding this was one of the primary reasons for the introduction of the transit visa by the British government.

Enforce on October 15, it stipulates that nationals of India, Angola, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Lebanon and Pakistan will need visas to travel through the UK. Previously, people from these countries required visas to visit the UK but were able to travel without one if they passed through on their way to a third country.

‘‘We are responding to intelligence that some nationals of these countries are using transit visas to flout our immigration controls and either enter the UK illegally or make unfounded asylum applications,’’ UK Home Office officials said. The authorities clarified that the rule will not apply to diplomats and those having a valid visa for entry to Canada or the US and a valid ticket to travel to these countries.

Earlier this week, British Home Secretary David Blunkett unveiled a package of measures. For the first time, a criminal offence will be laid out if one arrives in Britain without a good explanation for not having travel documents. Those assisting illegal immigrants could face a five-year prison term.

Hard-pressed Indian high Commission officials are also facing a tough task in dealing with such cases. (PTI)