Aren’t the overseas migrant workers pravasi bharatiya?

Since October 2022, Antony George and Sahya Celso, two Tamil fishermen, are missing from Bahrain. While Sahya migrated to Bahrain in December 2021, Antony followed him in May 2022. Since then, the families of missing fishermen and a Chennai-based migrant rights organisation in Tamil Nadu are trying to connect with the Indian embassy in Bahrain and other Indian offices in New Delhi seeking help. But so far, they haven't received any response.

Upon the request from the rights organisation, on January 4, I emailed the Minister of State at the Ministry of External Affairs V Muraleedharan and the Indian embassies in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, and Iraq, requesting them to find the missing fishermen. I included the embassies of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, and Iraq in the email list because these countries' water territories are connected. And I have come across cases of Indian fishermen from Bahrain fishermen caught in Iranian and Saudi waters.

As a response to my email, I received a reply from the minister's office on the same day. It read, "Namaskaram, This office is in receipt of your email. Thank you." When this story is filed, eleven days have passed. Other than the acknowledgement email, there are no updates.

And this is not an isolated case. If this is about missing migrants, there are thousands of Indian workers, especially in the Arab Gulf, whose human rights are denied, subjected to forced labour, and victimised by wage theft. Data on labour complaints sourced by me through RTI reveal that the number of labour complaints registered by Indian workers in Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait, between 2015 and 2020 December, was around 71,000. The UAE data wasn't available.

In Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, and Qatar (Gulf Cooperation Council countries), Indians top the migrant population. Official data reveal that there are around 88 lakh Indian migrants in the GCC.  And these countries practice Kafala, exploitative working conditions, where the worker will be tied to the employer. Unfortunately, these harsh working conditions lead to forced labour.

Forced Labour

The International Labour Organisation 1930 Convention 29 defines forced labour as “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself [or herself] voluntarily”. Interestingly, even the migrant workers who are subjected to forced labour won't be aware of that.

The ILO says that "withholding valuable documents, such as identity documents or residence permits," is also a sign of forced labour. The moment you land in an Arab Gulf country for work, your passport will be taken by your employer/sponsor, saying that he will keep it 'safe'. Unfortunately, as his passport is with the employer, his freedom of movement will be restricted. So, the worker will adjust to rights violations, including forced labour, because he knows the importance of a passport to return home.

And being a journalist reporting migrant stories and migration in Oman and other neighbouring countries for some 10 years, I can confirm that more than 70 lakh are migrant workers, earning between Rs 12,000 and Rs 25,000. Meanwhile, data tabled in the Rajya Sabha in December 2022 reveal that, between 2020 and March 2022, nearly 3,800 labour complaints were registered at the Indian embassies. I can confirm from my experiences that tenfold of registered rights violations go unregistered due to fear of repercussions, logistical issues, and even because of the language barrier.

And still, women domestic workers are trafficked to the Arab Gulf. During the last three months, upon my request, a good social worker in Kuwait was able to rescue three Keralite women domestic workers locked up by their employer from Kuwait. They came back. But didn't get their salary.

Every year, a South Indian migrant rights network of which I am also a member comes across at least 50 cases of trafficked women domestic workers. Other than this, wage theft cases are also reported from the GCC, and especially after Covid-19, the number of such cases is high. Wage theft is the non-payment for overtime; denying workers their last paycheck after they leave a job; not paying for all of the hours worked; not paying minimum wages; not paying a worker at all, and not adhering to the terms of the contract.

Even from FIFA workers, I have recorded wage theft cases. When everybody, including FIFA president Gianni Infantino, claimed that the World Cup in Qatar has been the best ever, a good number of migrant workers were forced to return without being paid for their work. Some 18 Keralite engineers, whom I know, had built the Al Bayat stadium, the second largest in Qatar, were sent back without being paid. They have to get all together some Rs 37 lakh. They have approached a global rights organisation to reclaim their unpaid wages.

When these are the core issues, the three-day Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) failed to list them in the agenda of discussion. Instead, the PBD debated the role of diaspora youth in innovations and new technologies, the role of the Indian diaspora in promoting the Indian healthcare eco-system in Amrit Kaal: Vision @2047, and enabling global mobility of Indian workforce – role of Indian diaspora.

On the second day of PBD, Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the PBD meeting, and released a commemorative postal stamp ‘Surakshit Jaayen, Prashikshit Jaayen’.

Training Gaps

Interestingly, according to a parliament document in December 2022, there are only two Skill India International training centres for potential migrants to get trained. One is in Varanasi to impart skill training to youth in logistics, port operations, and allied areas, and the second one is at Bhubaneswar. However, another parliament document reveals that there are 32 pre-departure orientation (PDO) training centres operational in 29 cities of 15 States/UT and as on November 30, 2022, PDO Training has been imparted to 1.22 lakh prospective emigrants.

When analysing the migration flow from India, we can say that 32 PDO training centres and two Skill India International centres and the government allocating only Rs 3.5 crore from the budget won't help.

Because India is the largest migrant-sending and remittance-receiving country.

The World Bank remittance report and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaram's statement confirmed that, in 2022-23, India has received $100 billion (approx Rs 8 lakh crore) as remittances. Remittances are different from foreign direct investment (FDI). Remittances are the money sent by migrant workers regularly through banks or money exchange centres to their homes. And this money may not lie in the bank. They may be used to pay school fees, medical bills, rent, buy a vehicle, gold, repay loans, and likewise. In short, the money circulates in the market and helps the economy to be healthy.

Unfortunately, nobody recognises the importance of remittances. A small comparison of remittances and FDI will give more clarity. India received $84 billion as FDI last year. And we all know that a huge team of diplomats, ministers, and undersecretaries have to work smartly and travel around the world to bring in this money or investment. But remittance flow is organic. Nobody is requesting a worker to send money home. It happens without any push, overcoming many adverse conditions, specifically exploitative working conditions in a foreign land.

Despite this, Indian migrant workers never get featured or invited to PBD. Steps to update the 1983 Emigration Act aren't discussed. The lack of a migration policy isn't debated. And an analysis of student migration is also missed.

And eventually, the PBD turns out to be a convention for networking with successful migrants, sorry non-resident Indians, and some sightseeing as listed by the hosting state. This time, as it was the 17th PBD, the host state Madhya Pradesh has listed 17 places to see in the state, in detail.