India needs a national migration policy, not election-season rhetoric

It was therefore surprising when, in her maiden statement, she mentioned clearing encroachments by Bangladeshi migrants as her priority. There was nothing about the poor state of the city’s roads, pollution from unregulated construction, endangered public transport systems, lack of pedestrian walkways, an inefficient garbage collection and treatment system or on how to avoid large flyover sections landing on unsuspecting citizens.

There are two ways to explain this: either she expects her statements to please the party leadership or, to be charitable, she was involuntarily recycling what has become a seasonal flavour.

Jim Ratcliffe, billionaire businessman and part owner of football club Manchester United, recently made the extraordinary claim that the UK had been “colonized by immigrants” who were draining the state’s resources.

Apart from the fact that his statement was factually wrong and clearly racist, thereby inviting a swift rebuke from prime minister Keir Starmer, the fact that he has no locus standi on the issue seems to have escaped his notice; Ratcliffe lives in Monaco to avoid paying UK taxes.

There was even a richer irony: his statement coincided with United fielding a team for a Premier League match in which only three players are eligible to play for the English national team, with the rest of the team members citizens of nations in Africa, South America and continental Europe.

Ratcliffe has been known to shift his opinions in anticipation of shifting political temperatures and his latest rant may have been influenced by the far-right Reform UK Party making unexpected gains during 2025 UK council elections and bypolls. Reform UK has built its political identity around anti-migration.

Many far-right politicians who have found it a convenient tool to divert attention from their policy shortcomings or leverage it as a promise for a better future, both of which require creative massaging of data and skimping on actual details.

The political identities of the Alternative for Germany, PVV in The Netherlands, Fidesz in Hungary, National Rally in France, Vox in Spain and other European political parties seem to converge on the anti-migration issue.

A version of this is playing out in India, especially in relation to assembly elections in two border states—West Bengal and Assam—that are due in the next 4-5 months. The BJP has chosen migration from Bangladesh as the central issue in both states over the myriad economic and social issues that merit discussion and policy initiatives. A focus on international migration, especially when couched in religious identity, helps divert attention from the real issues.

The International Organisation for Migration, part of the multilateral United Nations, defines migration as “movement of people away from their usual place of residence to a new place of residence, either across an international border or within a State.”

In a February 2025 essay for Foreign Affairs magazine, the organization’s director general Amy Pope wrote, “Anti-immigrant politicians and activists spread disinformation to suggest that countries are being invaded by waves of undocumented migrants…The fact that the phenomenon is so global also points to the problem with policy responses that aim to crack down on particular borders or in individual countries: today’s unprecedented levels of migration make plain that a decrepit, outdated system, built in the wake of World War II, is incapable of contending with today’s humanitarian needs, demographic trends, or labor-market demands.”

Away from international migration, the BJP never talks about the two Indian states—Bihar and Uttar Pradesh—that provide the most number of internal migrants, a sign of economic stagnation in these states.

There is, of course, a flip side to this: while the migrant’s labour adds value to the host state’s economy, remittances improve the home state’s economy. But, politicians in many host states have often weaponized their presence. Masked gunmen in Punjab recently shot and injured a group of workers from both these states. Rhetoric in the absence of clearly defined policies is like a double-edged sword.

There is, thus, a serious case for introspection on migration. According to the 2011 census, India’s last available official data-set, the country had 456 million migrants in 2011 (38% of the population), compared with 315 million (31%) migrants in 2001. And, so, while the national population grew 18% during this period, the number of migrants increased by 45%.

What the census also shows, contrary to prevalent political narratives, is that international migrants accounted for only 1% of total migration, with internal migration accounting for the balance. It is unlikely that the trend would have reversed in the decade-and-half since.

The ministry of statistics and programme implementation, as part of its periodic labour force survey, studied migration patterns in 2020-21; however, given the repeated covid lockdowns during this period, the data is not representative. What India needs is a national labour migration policy, with updated data on its economic contribution. Rhetoric may win elections but does not make for good policy.

The author is a senior journalist and author of ‘Slip, Stitch and Stumble: The Untold Story of India’s Financial Sector Reforms’ @rajrishisinghal