NEW DELHI: The Union Home ‘Minister, S.B.Chavan, has informed the Interior Minister of Russia, Gen Viktor Yerin, that at _Present nearly 9,000 illegal migrants from India are in Russia their number is on the in “ease, Chavan has told his ‘Counterpart in Moscow that a number of these illegal migrants have i with narco-terrorism.
Van, who recently concluded chis trip to Russia, also met the Russian Prime Minister, Viktor Chemomyrdin, and the foreign riser Andrei Kozyrey. Dura! His talks Chayan pointed out that the immigration checks on travellers entering Russia through the rail route was a bit tax and “‘illegal migrants and narco terrorists ‘were taking advantage of this. Chavan told the correspondent in. an interview in his North Block office last week that the train link connecting Bangkok and Warsaw, Via Moscow, was being utilized for drug trafficking. There was a clear link between drug cartels and terrorists operating in various parts of the world, including India, he pointed out. It was in this context that he had warned the Russian leaders about the need to check narco terrorism.
Chavan said it had\come to his Notice that certain travel agencies in India were putting out misleading advertisements in newspapers and luring unwary young men on: the pretext of getting them admissions in technical institutions in Russia. When these students reached Russia, they were either unable to get admissions or were Not able to cope with the standard of education there and thus were thrown out of the institutions. At present, nearly 4500 such “students” were living in Russia.
The Home Minister has asked the Indian Embassy in Moscow to ascertain from these “students” as to how they were making ends meet in inflation hit Russia without any known means of subsistence.
No untoward incident had been reported so far, Chavan said, but he warned that the growth of illegal migration from India to Russia and its links with narco terrorism needs to be viewed seriously.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 16, 1994
