UK expands visa fraud campaign in India to tackle illegal migration
The UK’s campaign to raise awareness against visa fraud in India is expanding to a second region, Tamil Nadu.
It is the latest example of the UK and India working in partnership to protect people from scams and tackle illegal migration.
The campaign launch came as the UK Minister for the Indo-Pacific, Seema Malhotra, travelled to India to see how joint UK and India efforts are helping protect people from exploitation, financial loss, and emotional distress while reducing the number of illegal entrants into the UK.
The UK’s visa fraud campaign in Tamil Nadu will include a Tamil-language WhatsApp chatbot and community engagement sessions to help people spot scams and access accurate visa advice. It builds on the success of the UK’s pilot campaign already underway in the Punjab region in northern India.
The campaign demonstrates the continuing momentum of the UK-India partnership, working together to protect vulnerable people and strengthen border security. It builds on UK–India Vision 2035, an agreement which includes a commitment to tackling exploitation by criminal organisations and reducing irregular migration.
During the event, Minister Seema Malhotra gave a speech. On the WhatsApp chatbot, she said:
You will see the WhatsApp number for our new bespoke chatbot. Information that can be there readily, available when you need it, from authoritative UK visa department resources. So that people can access the right information and identify the warning signs of visa fraudsters.
On the partnership between the UK and India to tackle visa fraud, she said:
We want the message to be out there and the message to be clear, please stay safe. Don’t risk your dreams or your savings. Protect yourself from those criminals behind visa fraud, and all the risks associated with it.
And to conclude, I just want to reiterate my thanks to the Government of Tamil Nadu, the Government of India and to everyone at the NRT Welfare Department; and to the Anna Library for your partnership and for your support towards the launch of this most important campaign.
The WhatsApp chatbot can be accessed via the QR Code below, or at +91 70652 51380.
Pictures from the campaign launch will be available on Flickr.
Media
For media queries, please contact:
Kripa Ramachandran, Political Officer
British Deputy High Commission,
Chennai 600006 Tel: +91 8939691306
Media queries: kripa.ramachandran@fcdo.gov.uk
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