Port Louis: President APJ Abdul Kalam on Monday visited the 'Apravasi Ghat' in Mauritius, the place where indentured labourers from the country arrived between 1830s and 1920s.
The place symbolises one of the great waves of migration in recorded history, which has had a determining impact on the demographic profile of the present-day Mauritian population.
The President, on the last day of his three-day visit to the picturesque island republic, placed a wreath on the plaque called 'the unknown immigrant'.
Officials said that nearly 70 per cent of Mauritian citizens can trace their roots to India through an ancestor, who would have entered Mauritius through the Apravasi Ghat.
The site of the Apravasi Ghat was chosen by the Colonial British authorities for sheltering the immigrant workers after the long ship voyage.
The place also served as an immigration office which was responsible for the keeping of immigration registers, delivery of tickets to old and new immigrants, setting of taxes and other dues required from them, and the confirmation of Indian Marriage Certificates.
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