In his 10 years as PM, Narendra Modi has made 13 visits to Gulf Cooperation Council countries, seven of them to UAE alone. There are 34.3 lakh Indians living in that Emirate where more than 88% of its population are migrants. In Qatar, 77% of its population are migrants. That has also allowed these countries to prosper, writes Atul Thakur
Migrants A Lifeline
UAE and Qatar may be outliers, but even in Singapore over 43% of its population is not local.
In Europe, Switzerland is the most popular destination for foreign settlers (counting only countries with a million-plus population).
India Sends Most Migrants Abroad
In 2020, about 18 million Indians were living in countries other than their birthplace. This is the world’s largest international migrant population and is followed by Mexico, Russia and China.
US Big Draw For Migrants
The most prosperous country in the world – US – also has the largest number of migrants. It is the same story for rich western Europe. But countries like Russia and Ukraine – and even India – once sought-after destinations for international migrants, are migrant destinations anymore.
Source: UN Population Division
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