Wednesday, November 6th, 2024

Shocking report on Hindu migrants, big claim on Muslim migrants too, know the connection with India

New Delhi: Pew Research Center, a well-known American think tank, has said in a research that the largest number of Hindu migrants in the world have come from India. According to the report, more than 76 lakh Hindus who were born in India now live abroad. Not only this, the second largest number of Muslim migrants in the world are also from India, which is about 60 lakh. This report of Pew Research also tells about the methods of migration of Hindus and people of other religions around the world and the changes taking place in it. According to the report, as of 2020, there were a total of 13 million Hindu migrants worldwide, which is 5% of the total international migrants. This figure is much less than the 15% share of Hindus in the total population of the world, which shows that the participation of Hindus in global migration is less. Apart from this, the report also found that Hindu migrants travel farther from their country of origin than other religious groups. On average, Hindu migrants travel about 3,100 miles from their country, while the global average is 2,200 miles. Earlier, most of the Hindu migrants went to the Asia-Pacific region, but now their numbers are increasing in the Middle East, North Africa and North America as well.

Hindus are also migrating from Bangladesh and Pakistan

The report said that more Hindus are migrating from Bangladesh and Pakistan than from India or Nepal. Hindus are a small part of the population in Bangladesh (8%) and Pakistan (2%), but they make up 21% and 8% of international migrants from those countries, respectively. On the other hand, Hindus are a majority in India (79%) and Nepal (81%), but they make up only 41% and 56% of migrants leaving those countries, respectively, the report said.

People of which religion are losing their love for India

This report also gives information about the migration of other religious groups in India. According to the report, people from minority communities in India migrate more than people from the majority community. Hindus are in majority in India, but they migrate less than other religious groups. Only 41% of the Indians who went abroad in 2020 were Hindus. This figure is much lower than the proportion of Hindus in India, which shows that fewer Hindus go abroad in proportion to their population in India. In contrast, the migration rate is higher among Muslims and Christians.

The report states that 33% of the people who left India in 2020 were Muslims and 16% were Christians. These figures are much higher than the share of these communities in the total population of India (Muslims 14.2% and Christians 2.3% according to the 2011 census), which shows that people from these communities are more inclined to go outside India in search of opportunities. The report emphasizes that Muslims are much more likely to migrate than the Hindu majority in India. Most of these Muslim migrants settle in Muslim-majority countries like UAE (18 lakh), Saudi Arabia (13 lakh) and Oman (7.2 lakh), where they easily get employment opportunities.

What percentage of Hindu immigrants live in India?

According to the report, Hindus constitute 61% of the immigrants living in India. This figure is quite high and reflects the fact that Hindus constitute around 79% of the total population of India. The high percentage of Hindu immigrants in India reflects the fact that India is a major destination for Hindus who have emigrated, mainly due to historical events such as Partition and the regional changes that followed. According to Pew Research, most Hindu immigrants come from the APAC region, particularly India which remains the largest source of Hindu immigrants with 7.6 million people. Bangladesh is second with 1.6 million Hindu immigrants, and Nepal is third with 1.5 million Hindu immigrants. Pakistan accounts for around 9.4 lakh Hindu immigrants.

What routes does migration take?

The research highlights several major migration routes for Hindus. The most common route is from India to the United States, with 1.8 million Hindus making this journey. Another significant route is from Bangladesh to India, where around 1.6 million Hindus have migrated. Additionally, there is substantial movement from India to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, with around 3 million Hindus living in the region, where foreign workers make up half or more of the region’s workforce. The long distances and large numbers of Hindu migrants to countries like the US and GCC countries suggest that economic opportunity, not crisis or conflict, drives large-scale Hindu migration.

The pattern of Hindu migration has changed a lot

Patterns of Hindu migration have changed since 1990. According to the report, the total number of Hindu migrants globally grew from 9.1 million in 1990 to 13.5 million in 2020, an increase of 48%. However, this growth rate is slower than the overall increase in global migrants, which grew by 83% during the same period. Regional patterns have changed significantly, with Hindu migrants living in APAC declining by 80% in 1990 and falling to less than half by 2020.

The study suggested that in 1990, about eight in ten Hindu immigrants lived in the Asia-Pacific region. By 2020, this share had dropped to less than half. This shift is partly because many of the migrants who left during Partition had died by 2020. Three decades ago, about 4 million Hindus born in Pakistan or Bangladesh were living in India. By 2020, that number had nearly halved to 2.1 million. In contrast, the number of Hindu immigrants in the Middle East-North Africa region has grown from 0.7 million to 3.3 million, as many migrants have moved to GCC countries for work. Among GCC countries, Qatar saw the highest number of Hindu immigrants, growing from 1,000 in 1990 to 2,90,000 in 2020, while the UAE recorded the highest increase in Hindu immigrants, growing from 1,40,000 to 1.1 million during the same period.

Meanwhile, North America saw a jump from 0.8 million to 3 million during this period, led by a surge in the number of Indian-origin Hindus living in the US. Similarly, the number of Hindu immigrants to Malaysia has grown 15-fold from 30,000 to 470,000, driven mainly by migrant workers from Nepal who came in search of jobs. In 2020, Malaysia was the seventh-largest destination for Hindu immigrants.

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