Over 6500 Indians languish in prisons in 80 foreign counties, half of them in three Gulf countries, Kuwait, Saudia Arabia and the UAE.

Pakistan has 253 Indian prisoners, China has 157, Sri Lanka 63. Nepal prisons have 377 Indian prisoners. Italy has 121 Indians in their jails, the United Kingdom has 426 inmates and US prisons house 155 Indians.

These statistics were obtained on an RTI by a Kochi based NGO Human Rights Defense Forum.

T P Sreenivasan former ambassador of India to the United Nations said ordinary crimes, drug trafficking and domestic violence land Indians in jail in European countries, but a number of prisoners in Gulf countries are arrested for questionable contracts, illegal stay and migration.

Malaysia's 187 Indian prisoners and Singapore's 156 have mostly been arrested for immigration violations and a few for criminal cases.

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A latest Census report has revealed that over 8 percent of the nearly 3 million Indian Americans live below the poverty line in the US. The national poverty rate is 14.7 percent.

The Census report says Indian Americans are far less poor than other ethnic groups and the national average. Japanese Americans too have an 8.2 percent poverty rate. Rates for Vietnamese, Koreans and Filipinos are lowest among Asian Americans.

For Asians, nine states had poverty rates below 10 percent including Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Virginia and South Carolina.

The US government's definition of poverty is based on total income received. The poverty level for 2012 was set at an annual income of $23,050 for a family of four.

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According to data from the 2011 census, Indian origin Britons are the largest ethnic minority group in the UK and the mixed-race population is among the fastest growing in Britain.

The data which is to be released soon, suggests there are now over a million people born to parents in interracial relationships, but academics believe the true figure is more than double this. It also identifies Islam as the fastest growing faith, with over 2 million Muslims.

The 2011 census is expected to show that 1 million Britons are mixed race, which equates to 1.6 per cent of the population.

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India has overtaken China and the UK as the largest source of permanent migrants to Australia. Under the 2011-12 permanent migration programme with 185,000 places, Indian migrants comprised a total of 29,018 places or 15.7 percent of the total migration.

Australia's Immigration and Citizenship minister Chris Bowen said the Indian community has made a valuable contribution to economic, social and cultural life in Australia.

The other main Asian source countries are China, the Philippines, Sir Lanka, Malaysia, South Korea and Vietnam. Skilled migration accounted for over two-thirds of Australia's total migration programme.

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According to a study entitled 'Migration of Women Workers from South Asia to the Gulf' by UN Women and the V V Giri Labour Institute, that analysed the situation in five countries of South Asia, India and Pakistan together account for 71% of international female migrants from South Asia to the Gulf countries. 2.7 million were from India and around 1.9 million came from Pakistan. The six major receiving countries were Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

A majority of these women migrate alone as domestic workers to support their families. The gulf region's demand for female domestic workers is high.

The lead author of the study said the impact of the migration of women workers is much broader than its immediate economic aspect. There is great potential of such migration to bring forth the social and political empowerment of women, and reshape gender power relations.

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