More than 50 lakh persons from India are said to be working in the Gulf countries, a majority are engaged in hard labour and low-paid jobs. The Kerala Migration Survey 2016 put the number of migrant workers from Kerala at 22 lakh, and 90 per cent of them working in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
A large number of migrant workers go to the GCC countries with two or three-year labour contracts. Most of them stay in pathetic living conditions in cramped labour camps. Lack of adequate sanitation, basic health facilities and drinking water make these labour camps a place with subhuman conditions.
Thousands of complaints are received from Indian migrant labourers, the highest from Kuwait. These complaints pertain to non-payment of salaries, miserable working and staying conditions, lack of basic amenities including food and water, harassment, unfair treatment by employers and problems in getting bodies of dead migrant workers repatriated.
In many instances, the passports of workers are confiscated upon arrival, so they have to be at the mercy of the employers.
Many organisations, from time to time, have called for regular checks and inspections in labour camps by Indian embassies and missions. There have also been demands for visits of the joint parliamentary committees to the countries to study the living conditions of Indian migrant workers. Nothing much has happened on the ground.
“More than five years ago when I chaired the parliamentary standing committee on external affairs, I requested the government to prepare an updated Emigration Bill to ensure decent conditions of work and security for our migrant workers. I am shocked that five years later there is still no Bill. I urge the government to address this issue at the earliest,” Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor wrote on X, reacting to the Kuwait tragedy.
The remittances sent to Kerala by emigrants in Gulf countries have risen to over `1 lakh crore which clearly shows the crucial role they play in sustaining the state’s economy.
Besides, the migrant workers contribute immensely to the economic growth of Gulf countries. Representatives of expatriates say these countries should reciprocate by ensuring labour reforms, better living conditions, social protection schemes, timely payment of wages and mechanisms for redressal of contract violations.
The majority of workers are unskilled and the companies take advantage of them. They cannot afford to return home as their families are dependent on them. They hide the sub-human living conditions they live in fearing that their families back home might ask them to return.
