Canada seeks Punjab’s cooperation on illegal migration

CHANDIGARH - Canadian Consul General Scot Slessor Tuesday sought the Punjab government’s cooperation to address the issue of fraudulent visa cases and illegal migration that had created a major problem for the Canadian and Indian governments.

The issue was raised by Slessor at his meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal here.

Slessor, who assumed charge as the Canadian consul general here, met Badal and told him that the Canadian minister for citizenship, immigration and multiculturalism Jason Kenney will visit Chandigarh Thursday to interact with the top brass of the civil and police administration of Punjab to find a permanent solution to curb the practice of illegal migration.

Expressing concern over the issue, Badal assured Slessor that the Punjab government would extend its full support to evolve a permanent solution to the problem.

Badal directed the state chief secretary to coordinate with the consul general of Canada at Chandigarh to chalk out detailed modalities to resolve this issue in a time-bound manner.

Badal urged the consul general to establish skill development centres in Punjab in collaboration with the state government and key players from Canada to train unemployed youth as per the requirement of the industry in Canada.

“Punjabis, by nature, are very innovative and enterprising and have already made their presence felt in the Middle East, Europe and USA with enormous contribution towards economic development and growth there,” Badal said.

He said that skill development centres would go a long way to check the abuse of migration for seeking greener pastures, especially by unemployed youth who are often duped by fraudulent travel agents and migration consultants.