Last Updated on August 21, 2021 by themigrationnews
Refugees at Home is a documentary about the Migrant workers who were stuck at different workplaces in Goa after the announcement of a nationwide lockdown call given by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on 24th March 2020. It is produced and directed by the national geographic explorer and filmmaker Malaika Vazand was published online by The Quint in May 2020. The lockdown was declared all of a sudden for 21 days which shocked the people who were not ready for this. Bearing in mind the spike in COVID-19 cases, restricting the movement of the people to limit the spread of the virus was unavoidable. The lockdown call came like a bolt from the blue. The country came to a standstill due to the closure of all the businesses and the transport industry. The hardest-hit community in India was the migrant laborers. They were hundreds of kilometers away from their homes- often staying in slums and makeshift homes. They found themselves stranded in cities without anyone to look after them. The only solution for them was to return to their villages. This documentary shows the impact of the lockdown on the migrant laborers and their strategies to cope in the face of such adversity.
Desire of returning back to Home
In the documentary Vaz interviews the migrant labourers who mostly worked in informal sectors. They were very keen to reach their homes because they were out of business. Living in abject penury, these vulnerable people had no cash reserves to rely on.
One of the migrant labourers attempted to travel 1500 km on foot from Goa to Madhya Pradesh but was apprehended by the police. Many others like him also tried to follow him to return to their respective homes. They were very eager to return to their native villages because they had no work. They were also uncertain about the future plans of the government. Despite knowing the hardships of travelling back, people embarked on the life-threatening journey. The scenes of mass exodus on the announcement of lockdown bring back the memory of partition(i) when people moved in caravans to the safer places. They were not unaware of the rising cases of COVID-19; neither they were trying to be the active agents of its spread. The reason of their ardent wish to return back was their miserable condition at the congested areas. They lived in small rooms where social distancing was not possible. Every single room accommodated 5-7people which depicts their deplorable social and economic conditions. They wished the government could find a way to send them back to their homes, so that they could maintain social distancing and other Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) at their respective homes. Isolation in these places (if one were to contract the virus) was impossible for them. They did not have the money to pay rent. They were also afraid that if by chance they fell sick no-one would look after them. In search of the opinions of the migrant labourers Vazhad the following conversation with one of the migrant labourers:
Vaz: What do you want, how can the government help you out?
Labourer: They can start the trains for few days so that we can get to our homes.
Vaz: Do you want to go home?
Labourer: Yes.
Vaz: Are you getting your salary?
Labourer: So far, I haven’t received it. I doubt whether my boss will give it to me, since there is no work now.
Vaz: So, there’s that fear?
Labourer: Yes.
Many migrants lost their lives while embarking on the incredibly dangerous journey. At least 16 migrant workers were crushed to death by a cargo train in Aurangabad, Maharashtra on 8th May 2020. Tired and exhausted the labourers fell asleep on a railway line least expected that they will never see the morning again. It was really a tragedy which raised the feelings of fear and sympathy for this marginalised community. No arrangements were made to send them to their native villages.
Vaz interviewed construction workers and fishermen who worked in dangerous conditions to support their families. When the complete lockdown was enforced nationwide, the migrant fishermen were far away in the ocean to catch the fish. Hardly had they imagined that they would find the usually busy shore of ocean totally devastated. They were depressed because of loss of employment and wages. Their family members continuously called them to return home. The fishing department was totally dependent on these daily wage labourers who came from the remote parts in the hope of work opportunity. As they did not get any wages, life became very difficult for them. They were not sure whether their boss would pay them or not. Shankar is one of the thousands of fishermen who were left stranded in the high seas. He – together with his family- suffered due to lack of essential supplies like food and other-essential commodities. They found solace in each other’s company which gave them resilience to face the cataclysmic times. They were not sure when they would be back home. Almost 98% of the catch comes from the mechanised boats which are mostly operated by the migrant workers, but being ununionized, unfamiliar to the place they became the hardest hit.
The sudden increase in the eatables due to the scarcity of supplies made the condition of migrant workers more miserable. The price of vegetables raised 3-4 times than the normal rate. One of the labourers was eating rice mixed with water and salt. These scenes of wretchedness bring tears to the eyes. Shivaji one of migrant labourers was worried about his family because they did not have any deposit money. The family survived on the daily wages which had been abruptly stopped. Besides feeding his family, he had to buy medicines also for his illness. The boss for whom he worked did not even bother to ask him whether he had anything to eat.
Othering the Migrant labourers
Not only the economic exploitation, the migrant workers also suffer from the social exclusion. They are always considered as the ‘Other’ of the society. Shivaji’s son, a budding cricketer worked as a food delivery boy for Zomato to earn his livelihood. He spoke about the discrimination his family faced daily. He along with his family worked in Goa for eight months and spent the remaining four months in his native village at Maharashtra. It is very disheartening to hear him saying that they are not treated well in Goa. They were pressured not to come there for work.
The workers are also politically vulnerable as the state government sees them as outsiders whose welfare is outside their jurisdiction. During the distribution of free government ration supplies, the migrant labourers are considered as aliens. Despite being Indian citizens, they were not treated equally.
Those who dared to travel on foot were brutally attacked by police. Large scale lathi charge was used to stop the movement of the people. Some migrants had a disinfectant sprayed on them in a group as if they were cattle or some other animals. They received this inhuman treatment because they were from the lower castes of the society. The chemical caused itching and rashes particularly in children and women.
Violence against female folk
The documentary also focuses on the impact of lockdown on female migrant workers. The women are the backbone of the families. They not only work with the men to earn daily wages but also look after the homes. Even during the difficult times they first give food to their kids, then their husbands and at the end eat the remaining part. Rupali, one of the female migrant worker comments that unemployment and frustration of migrant men has raised the societal issues like domestic violence on women. She also says that men often scream or hit their wives to give vent to their anger.
Conclusion
The documentary ends on a happy scene where we see the multiple teams of volunteers swung into action by distributing the relief packets to the stranded migrants. These migrant labourers are not beggars, they are very hardworking and resilient people. It is the prime responsibility of all to give proper respect to them. They are the citizens of India, and we cannot make them refugees in their own homeland. This documentary gives us the first-hand account of the migrant labourers in a very realistic way.
(i) Partition: It here refers to the division of India into two countries after gaining independence in 1947.
Waseem Ahmad is a Researcher at the Aligarh Muslim University. His areas of interest are Migration and diasporic literature.