Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries

Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on Indias interests and Indian Diaspora
1. Saudi Arabia Nitaqat (Naturalization) law

* Law introduced by Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the wake of Arab spring. There is huge unemployment for Saudi citizens. Most of the small businesses (around 3 lakh) do not employ even one Saudi citizen and are completely run by expatriates from Pakistan, Yemen and from India (mostly from Kerala).

* As per law, at least 10% of the employees of a business should be Saudi citizens and they must be paid a particular minimum salary. Most of the Indian workers in Saudi are semi-skilled and unskilled workers who work for very less wages. Small businesses can not afford Saudi citizens as they demand a salary of 3000 SR(SAUDI RIYAL) whereas Indians take only around 1500-2000SR.

* Along with this, Saudi is looking forward to solve the problem of illegal immigrants (not exactly but in a way illegal) also. Free visa holders Workers who hold visas from a particular sponsor/company but work for some other company. Please refer below link for more information.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/saudi-steps-up-detection-drive/article4561452.ece?ref=relatedNews

* Deadline has been extended till Nov 3rd for expatriate workers to correct their Visas and for businesses to comply with the rule Premium, Green, yellow, red in descending order of compliance. Most of the Indian small businesses come under RED category.

* Impact for India: 1. Reduction in foreign remittances. 2. Problem of unemployment in India for the returning people.

* Impact for Saudi: 1. Domestic work and sanitation jobs are taken by expatriates only mostly and they may feel the heat 2. Saudis economy may be affected if many employees are sent back suddenly.

2. USA
2.1 Immigration bill (Passed by the senate and sent to the House of Representatives)
We saw an example of semi-skilled and unskilled workers having problems in Nitaqat law. Here is an example for skilled workers.
Highlights of the provisions in the bill related to India:

* Any company having more than 15% of workforce with H1B VISAs will be restricted to place its H1B workers on client offices.

* From 2016, any company with more than half of its staff on such work permits will be unable to apply for more visas, effectively creating a cap on temporary immigrant staff.

* The Bill imposes a fee of $10,000 per visa from large companies, that have more than half of their staff on H-1B visas.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/info-tech/us-senate-passes-immigration-bill-but-nasscom-still-hopeful/article4860729.ece?ref=relatedNews

2.2 Curb on outsourcing

* Obamas administration is always aimed at solving the unemployment issues in America. All possible options are taken to stop U.S companies from outsourcing which may hit India in the long run.
2.3 U.S sanctions (politics) on Iran and actions on Syria and how they affect Indias oil interests (hot topics already discussed in detail in our mrunal.org just mentioning)
2.4 Person in news (other than that covered in our mrunal.org)
Nina Davuluri First Indian-American to be win the Miss America title. Her origin is Vijayawada, Andhra. This has sparked both racist and nationalist comments/controversy among Americans.
3. U.K Visa issues

* U.K has introduced the rule that people who come to U.K in visitor visa (6 months ) have to pay 3000 pounds towards a cash bond which will be forfeited if they overstay.

* Aim to reduce the number of immigrants.

* Students who come for education are also treated as immigrants.

* Sharp reduction in student applications recently because of these problems.

4. Ireland Abortion law

* Abortion was a criminal offence in Ireland(now they have changed the law after this issue). Doctors would face severe charges in case of any problems.

* Savitha halappanavar, an Indian citizen was suffering from miscarriage and doctors also confirmed that the foetus was not proper. But they refused to abort because the foetus still had heartbeat. In the following days, Savitha died due to septicemia(severe infection) and multiple organ failure caused by this miscarriage.

* This led to wide opposition from the Indian expatriates and they insisted Ireland to change the law.

* The law was changed recently (July 2013) and Ireland confirmed when first abortion was done after this incident.

5. Maldives GMR issue
Maldives politics affecting Indias interests:
http://mrunal.org/2012/12/economy-gmr-maldives-airport-controversy-ifc-aai-meaning-reason-implications-explained.html

6. Norway
6.1 Child custody

* Norway accused the NRI couple Sagarika and Anrup of negligence of their children and tried to keep them in a Child home by extending the childrens visa when the parents visa was expiring.

* This created anger and controversy in India that the children are not orphans or stateless.

* India did everything it could to persuade Norway and the children were brought to India and were given in the care of their uncle
6.2 Child abuse

* A.P NRI couple was charged with child abuse and were given jail term

* India extended whatever help they could.
Please refer below for the law in Norway in this regard - Child welfare services.

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/one-tragic-story-among-many/article3155621.ece?ref=relatedNews

by Bharath Kamaraj R