A few years ago, you must have watched a series called Squid Game on Netflix. One thing that I noticed in this series was the depiction of poverty and helplessness. The storyline is so gruesome that everyone in it undergoes a referendum after witnessing such brutality and escapes from the deadly game. However, when recruitment for the games resumes, it becomes evident that 90 percent of the people return to those death pits because they had no jobs, needed money either for their families or themselves.
Now, you might be wondering why I am suddenly talking about this series. It’s because there are many laborers in India who get trapped in such helpless situations. This happens because either they don’t find opportunities in India or they need to earn a bit more money. The painful incident in Mangaf, Kuwait, not only serves as evidence of this but also presents a dark reality before us. Despite claims that the Middle East is surpassing the US in terms of remittances coming into India and becoming a significant partner in trade, setting up new businesses, and human resources, the inhumane conditions in which these human resources work remain the saddest part.
According to data, every year many skilled and semi-skilled labourers migrate to other countries in search of Job and opportunities. From states like Telangana alone, 10,000 people migrate to the Middle East in the year 2023, in the search of jobs and new opportunities. The situation is similar in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and other states.
In 2022, in response to an Unstared question from Lok Sabha MP Uttam Kumar Reddy, Ministry of External Affairs told that in seven Middle Eastern countries… Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman… Qatar… Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates… a total of 87,51,086. It is not necessary now that everyone’s condition will be the same, but the maximum working class, blue-collar workers, manual laborers who want to work and who have no other resources but to go there and work for their family and their stomach.
European colonialism has ended, the demand for helpless and desperate Indian labor worldwide, it is not over. Since the 1970s Labour export is one of the major element for India to establish relationship and a goodwill with other nations. Kerala has been the first state in the country to benefit from the demand for wage labour in the Gulf countries. Remittances from the Gulf not only helped the economy of industrially backward Kerala but also became an important source of foreign exchange for the economy as a whole.
Recently, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, many Indian workers have gone to Israel for work. Speaking to media agency Reuters, an Indian migrant laborer, Vivek Sharma, explained that he is aware of the Israel-Hamas conflict but can earn a significant amount of money here in a short time. He mentioned that he hopes to earn $12,000 in a year, whereas in India, it could take him at least five years to earn that much.
The incident in Mangaf, Kuwait, where 49 people aged between 18 and 50 lost their lives, included individuals searching for work and money. Among them, there may have been several like Vivek Sharma who thought they could earn 12 lakhs in a year and return to their villages.
So, will anyone’s eyes open after this incident? Will people now refrain from going abroad to work in such conditions from India? Will the situation improve after this deadly incident? No, this has been going on for many years and will continue because until people in our countries find work and there are opportunities to earn more money elsewhere, knowingly having the chance to provide food to your family and having the opportunity to work outside, believing that one day you will either settle there with your family or come back with good money next year, then why would anyone not go? Tell us what solutions are there on this that can be taken by the government and other stakeholders
