The newspapers recently carried information that some 400 odd foreigners who were out on bail, are absconding, the majority among them being Nigerians. Some time back there was more news about Nigerians being caught with drugs and another among them involved in the abduction and rape of a local woman in broad daylight and later intercepted while on his way to Mumbai. We have also had the infamous incident of a group of Nigerians blocking NH17 at O’Coqueiro circle for almost a whole day in 2013 over the killing of one of their compatriots. Apart from these, we have many a incident where foreigners not necessarily all Nigerians or those of African origin dying of drug overdose. Looking at the BIG PICTURE one may observe that there have been several incidents where these foreigners, including Nigerians come here and disrupt the peace in our towns and villages. If they (the foreigners) come to live here by assimilating into the local mileau and go about with their business, there is no problem. In fact that is what Indians who emigrate overseas, including Africa do by pursuing their jobs and trying to be responsible members of the country where they migrate to. But unfortunately the foreigners in Goa become a reason for concern as some are found peddling drugs, disrupt peaceful life by getting into scrapes and involving themselves in petty crimes. The involvement in crime is done by these foreigners knowingly since they are aware that the wheels of justice in India turn slowly and that they cannot be deported until the case has been resolved. Most of the foreigners come on student visas and educational institutions may be advised to seek police certification stating no pending cases exist against them, prior to giving admission. To tackle this problem of foreigners, we need to take action to first show that we have some spine. By this it is meant that when these foreigners cross the boundaries and indulge in unacceptable behaviour, they should be persuaded to correct themselves failing which they should be soundly thrashed.. Not to the extent of the US citizen who was thrashed to death by villagers sometime back near Mapusa for irregular behaviour, but enough so that they do not repeat the offences. Unfortunately the situation on Goa is that we tend to fall at the feet of outsiders mostly foreigners since they bring with them the only God that most Goans see these days and that is money. To protect the Goan ethos, our culture, our way of life, we need to change. Secondly, in this age of social media incidents like those mentioned above should be widely publicised so that public opinion is built up against the offending foreigners and their nationality, This will bring to the fore that action taken against these foreigners is justifiable. The local media covers covers these cases and it also comes on TV if the incident is a major one like blocking the NH17. But with publicising these incidents on social media every Goan would be raising the cudgel to clean up our society from the actions of these offenders. Thirdly, some mechanism need be found to fast-track the cases involving foreigners in our courts so that justice is dispensed and if the accused are found guilty they can be deported. We could have an automatic system that in the case of a second offence within a year and up to 3 years is registered against a foreigner he/she is summarily deported since obviously, the offender is trying to work the system for himself. This will encourage foreigners to be on the right side of the law. Once deported they should not be allowed by our Immigration authorities to come back. A related issue that the news item relating to foreigners mentioned that there is no proper detention centre to hold foreigners until they are deported and hence they are enlarged on bail. Now look at this situation, Goa from the years that it has become liberated almost a half a century and more now has been boasting about its foreign tourists who come in numbers of lakhs and more. We have also known that these foreigners get involved in crimes and may require to deported, but for 50 years we have not set up a detention centre for them! This is rather sad and absolutely a lapse on the part of our authorities. Thus the earlier we organise for one it is better.
Foreigners & Crimes in Goa
