An international E- conference on ‘Migration, Diasporas and Sustainable Development: Perspectives, Policies, Opportunities and Challenges’ was jointly organized by Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA), Global Research Forum on Diaspora and Transnationalism (GRFDT) and Center for Research on North America (CISAN), from 2nd to 5th November, 2020.On the third day, i.e., 4 November 2020,five parallel discussions were held on varied subjects. The third session was based on ‘Labour Migration to Gulf’. The session was chaired by Professor S Irudaya Rajan, a pioneer in the field of Gulf migration.
Migrants being the Most Vulnerable
The first paper was presented by Dr. Naresh Sudhaveni, Assistant Professor, Centre for Economic and Social Studies [ CESS ] Hyderabad, on the topic “COVID-19 Impact on the Indian Migrant Workers in Gulf”. Addressing the impact of COVID-19, Naresh highlighted the plight of Indian migrant workers who live in poor housing conditions associated with work-related health risks. After losing their livelihoods due to the pandemic, remittances sent to their families dropped and the restrictions on travelling further made their lives vulnerable. With the highly reported cases of wage theft, little has been done to sustain their livelihoods. Programs like Vande Bharat Mission have been a lifesaver for many migrant workers who were stranded in Gulf countries with no jobs. “Considering the above facts, the future of the migrant workers is very uncertain, and due to financial constraints caused by the situation, the Indian government has limited ability to provide its support to these workers”, Dr. Naresh concluded.
Mr. Santosh Kumar Singh Yadav, PG scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University [JNU] presented his paper titled “The Trends of Indian Migration to the Gulf Countries”. With trade relations that date back to the Harappan civilization, Saudi Arabia hosts the largest number of Indian migrant workers which is around 4.1 million. Their remittance not only serves the livelihoods of their families, but also contributes to India’s foreign exchange reserves. Post 1973, oil era marked a huge amount of migration to gulf countries where people started earning and settling there. The massive inflow of oil revenue consequent to the high global oil price demanded an unprecedented massive demand for labour for its development requirements. This paved the way for greater imports of manpower from abroad. “Today’s Indian labour force is present in each and every sector of the economy in the Gulf Cooperation Council [GCC] countries. According to recent World Bank report, India will be taking 23% of remittances in 2020”.The pandemic worsened job losses for many migrants, he concluded.
Mr. Mohamed Musthafa KT presented his paper titled “COVID-19 and International Labour Migration: Possibilities and Challenges of Kerala Labour Migration to GCC countries”. The paper focused on how COVID-19 affected labour migration especially Kerala migrants in UAE and GCC countries. The pandemic has negatively affected the labour migration of Keralites to UAE. Due to the stringent policies adopted by authorities regarding travelling, there is strict adherence to protocols. “The quarantine facilities are expensive and make them more vulnerable”. The World Expo 2020 in UAE was growing slowly and not producing expected results. Although the GCC countries are going through an economic recession because of economic depression and the low price of oil, the pandemic has become a threat to them and negatively affected their hopes for incoming labour migrants from Kerala, he concluded.
The Need to Acknowledge Women Migrants’ Contributions
A paper titled, “Migration of Malayali Healthcare Workers to The Middle East: Tales of Trauma and Turmoil” by Ms. Anakha Ajith & Dr. Aparna Ajith was presented next. Their study included only women workers in the fields of health care and domestic work. With a brief introduction on nursing attributes, they moved to address the social stigma where nurses are considered as uneducated workers whose skills are not recognized and whose labour is not respected. “With limited employment opportunities in their home country, job availabilities abroad come as a boon as they aim for economic security and respect”. They also mentioned films like Take Off – Malayalam Movie, Khaddama – Malayalam Movie that portray the hardships and discrimination faced by the nurses. They concluded their paper on an optimistic note that these health workers receive the respect and dignity they deserve.
Addressing women migrant workers, Ms. Naziya Naweed presented her paper titled “Indian Female Migrant Workers and Human Rights Violations in the Gulf: A case study of Kuwait”. A review-based study on primary and secondary sources of data, the paper analyzed the gender dimension of migration in the levels of sex, race, occupation, nationality and migration status. “Women are often employed in irregular and unregulated jobs that leave them to the doors of vulnerabilities and exploitation. Not only that, they often become the victims of abuse that is psychological, physical and sexual and somewhat they are also deprived of their right to family reunification”. Migrant workers are not provided with adequate rights and duties including the right to education, health care facilities and shelter, whose absence shows the clear-cut violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and indicates that female migrant workers are in abusive relationships. For protection of the rights of Indian female migrant workers, the Indian Government has to be more vigilant in responding to the clear women migrant trap at the hands of their employers. Stricter laws are also required to curb illegal recruitment agencies expanding their networks in India and prevent mobilizing women migrant workers to choose illegal pathways, she concluded.
A paper titled “Gendered Migration and Transnational Lives: Understanding the Lived Experiences of Indian Migrant Women in the UAE” was presented by Ms. Shruti Gupta, PhD scholar at National University of Singapore [NUS]. Her paper aims to build on existing research on the gendered migration of Indians in UAE which in the past has largely focused on domestic workers and nurses. She expands the scope of current literature to include women from cross income categories and incorporates a transnational lens to capture the migratory experience of women across social fields. “The impact of the research shows the need to collect and analyze gender disaggregated data as emerging research shows that the availability of greater data on migration and migration trajectories can have positive social and economic developmental impacts for individuals as well as countries”, she concluded.
The session was concluded with fruitful discussion that included all the participants. Mr. Unnikrishnan V is pursuing a Master’s in Economics. He has a deep-rooted interest in Migration, Development and Health issues. Twitter Id- @unnikrishnan_21