ABSTRACT

Societies on various continents of Africa, Asia, and Latin America have been affected by migration driven by the broad processes of social transformation. Stephen Castles has argued that the various stages of this process have included colonialism, imperialism, decolonization, neo-colonization, and currently globalization.1 Castles added that highly skilled Indians predominantly head for the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and other European countries. In documented trends, the lower-skilled head for the Gulf region but also to other parts of Europe, Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia.2 However, even skilled workers and professionals have moved from sending developing countries like India to receiving developed countries. The post-Cold War world, lack of opportunities in their home countries, greater ease of air travel, and better communications have facilitated the mobility of skilled workers. This has created groups of people living across borders who have affiliations in more than one society and these are known as “transnational communities.”3 With the increasing integration of the world economy, this has further accelerated the increase of international labor migration.4