The phenomenon of immigration has existed for as long as human history, always driven by pursuit for better economic and educational opportunities.
People moving across borders not only influence their own lives but also impact the host society as well as their own homeland. The diaspora community is considered as an ambassador of its own country and plays a pivotal role in building connections between the nations.
If we talk about our part of the world, the Indian nationals constitute the largest diaspora community in Asia, with over 17.5 million Indians spread all across the globe. According to reports, the United Arab Emirates tops the list of being home to the highest number of overseas Indians while the United States and Saudi Arabia take the 2nd and 3rd ranks respectively.
It would not be wrong to call the diaspora community a double-edged sword. While it contributes to the economy of its home country through remittances and investments and also mobilizes foreign aid in times of crises, it can also, sometimes, hurt the international image of its motherland.
The state-sponsored assassination attempts on foreign land disturb the law and order situation.
Recently, an Indian entrepreneur Rishi Shah, co-founder of an advertising startup, Outcome Health, has been sentenced to seven and a half year prison after being convicted of defrauding investors such as Goldman Sachs, Alphabet and the Pritzker Group venture fund of $1 billion.
Shah and other executives, including another Indian American Shradha Agarwal, were accused of lying to pharmaceutical companies, taking money for ads never placed, and then misrepresenting the health of the company to investors. Earlier this year, another Indian, Jaspal Thiara, was arrested in Canada along with his partner, Jordan Cordeiro, on charges of selling fraudulent tickets of concert and sports events which cost the victims over $100,000.
These cases are reported at a time when India is already in the news because of its transnational repression. An Australian broadcasting corporation, recently, accused India of threatening and spying on Sikh expatriates.
A few weeks earlier, the Canadian government also issued a similar report calling India the second biggest threat to Canada’s democracy. In the not so distant past, the Canadian government called out India for its involvement in the assassination of a pro-Khalistan activist, Hardeep Singh Najjar, while the US government also exposed the Indian assassination plot against a member of a Sikh diaspora community.
These kinds of offenses can have serious implications. The state sponsored assassination attempts on foreign land disturbs the law and order situation thereby bringing the expatriates under increased scrutiny, encroaching on their privacy and liberty.
High profile criminal cases like that of Rishi Shah involving major investors like Goldman Sachs and Alphabet shakes investor confidence in the startup ecosystem and also raises concerns about the investors’ due diligence process, negatively affecting their reputation.
Moreover, it can also lead to increased skepticism towards ventures led by the immigrant entrepreneurs thus stifling innovation and economic growth in the host country. The actions of a few individuals may cause members of the host society to develop negative perception towards the entire diaspora community.
This shift in perception may lead to several social and economic consequences. It may result in decreased space for immigrants in the employment sector, as employers become more reluctant to hire individuals from certain backgrounds. This can lead to social tension, potentially fostering extremist ideologies on both sides – among the marginalized groups feeling discriminated against, and among native communities harboring xenophobic sentiments.
The writer is a freelance columnist.