Migration to the Middle East: Issues and Prospects

Abstract

Middle East countries absorbed high volume of labourers from Asia to work in both unskilled and semi-skilled jobs. This mobility has given rise to various issues; unsolved labour issues such as operation of illegal recruiting agents and illegal migration, and problems such as salary issues, working and living conditions and abuse at destination countries are discussed in this chapter, with major focus on India. Importantly, emerging new destinations like Israel are discussed to highlight the swift mobility of Asian female care workers from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries due to large number of exploitations reported in recent years and the ban imposed by some source countries in Asia to recruit female care workers. Thus, gender-wise and sector-wise labour mobility to Middle East is discussed to show the characteristics of Asian migrant workforce in this region. Finally, the economic diversification taking place in the Gulf countries shows optimism with regard to their economic growth and job creation. However, in the past few years we saw a decline in Asian workforce moving to Gulf, but the ongoing economic reforms in Gulf needs cheap expatriate workers to meet their labour shortage in private sectors.

Overview

The oil boom in the Gulf countries resulted in heightened interest for emigration of worker population from South Asia, particularly from India. Historically, it is difficult to trace the emigration of Indian labourers to the Middle East (ME) countries. We define the ME countries as Lebanon, Israel and Jordan, along with the countries that constitute the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), namely Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. This opening chapter largely deals with unskilled and semi-skilled migration to the ME countries from India and also highlights new emerging destination countries like Israel. This chapter touches upon three aspects: (a) the major challenges emigrants face in India (origin country) at the time of recruitment, (b) the vulnerability they face in the form of various kinds of exploitation and human rights violation including harsh working conditions (at destination), especially among female domestic workers and (c) the integration/rehabilitation of emigrants returning to the place of origin after the end of their contract period. With this brief introduction, the first section characterises the emigrant labour force from India to the ME countries, with more focus on Jordan, Lebanon and Israel, and the recruiting pattern followed in India to export workers. The second section deals with the major issues like undocumented migration, issues pertaining to female workers and other labour problems as well. In the third section, the future prospects for the emigration are briefly discussed. The last section briefly introduces the articles included in the volume.

Unskilled and Semi-skilled Migration to the ME Countries

The Gulf countries have the highest proportion of foreign nationals within their total population. Table 1.1 shows the share of foreign nationals in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries during the recent periods, 2010–16. Interestingly, with the exception of Oman and Saudi Arabia, the remaining four countries have a foreign population share of more than 50 per cent. The data also reveals that almost 90 per cent of United Arab Emirates and Qatar population consists of foreign nationals. Overall, the GCC countries together host the largest share of emigrant population in the ME countries (see also, Rajan 2012, 2015, 2016).

Table 1.1 Population and percentage of nationals and foreign nationals in the GCC countries^a

Now moving to the Indian context, in the ME countries, especially in the GCC countries, the nature of emigration of Indians to the Gulf countries is unique compared to migration to other developed countries. The reasons are migration to the Gulf countries is dominated by unskilled and semi-skilled workers; they are basically contractual workers, and once their contract expires, migrant workers have to return home (Bhagat et al. 2013; also see Zachariah et al. 2002, 2003, 2006; Zachariah and Rajan 2009, 2012a, b, 2015, 2018). While there are several reasons of international migration, the primary aim of emigrants is to gain monetary benefits through migration and thus improve quality of life. Push and pull factors equally play a role in intentions to migrate overseas among economic emigrants. Push factors determine the scope of emigration from the origin country; so, in India, most commonly cited reasons for international migration are wage differences and unemployment. Though these reasons are primary, there could be some other specific reasons such as building house, funding marriage/dowry, providing education to children and meeting medical expenses. Further, pull factors determine the scope of emigration from destination or host countries. Most of the oil-rich countries attract emigration mainly for reasons like better job opportunities and higher income.

However, emigrants to the ME countries are a heterogeneous group with respect to demographic setup, legality of their employment and stay (visa), and most importantly, subnational group size, with each subgroup having their own characteristics at the destination countries. As reported by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India (2019), unskilled and semi-skilled workers from India (hereinafter called Indian workers) in the ME countries are largely employed in five occupations: ordinary labour, mason, carpenter, technician and helper.¹ Also, the Indian workforce in the ME countries includes legal as well as undocumented and trafficked workers (see also Rajan and Joseph 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017; Rajan 2017, 2018, 2019). The legal employments of Indian emigrant workers in the ME countries can be classified gender-wise and sector-wise.

India is not only the origin country for various emigrants but also the destination country for emigrants from Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Among the South Asian countries, India is the largest supplier of blue-collar workers. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh (AP), Kerala, Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Bihar are some of the leading states in India that have fulfilled the demand for cheap labour supply to the GCC countries (Kumar and Rajan 2014; Zachariah and Rajan 2016; Rajan et al. 2017; Rajan and Zachariah 2019a, b). Hence, India remains one of the largest suppliers of cheap labour. In 1970s, India adopted a closed economic policy; consequently, labour migration for “3 D” (dirty, dangerous and demeaning) works first started to the GCC countries. India’s lower-middle-class families are engaged in services or “3 D” works and considered as vulnerable workers. Many of these family members went to the Gulf region as expatriate workers on contract basis (D’Sami 2000).

Before discussing about gender-wise and sector-wise recruiting pattern in India, an overview of existing legal recruiting system should be briefly discussed. Generally, in India, Emigration Act, 1983, is the only major legislation in place to regulate the workers going abroad to work. As mentioned in the Act, private recruitment agents (RAs) approved and enrolled within the MEA system are involved in the recruitment of Indian workers (Rajan et al. 2010, 2011). At the same time, foreign employers can also directly recruit workers from India. Potential emigrants can also apply directly to the foreign employer, but he/she has to go through the process prescribed by the MEA if they have Emigration Check Required (ECR) passport² and want to emigrate to ECR countries³ for employment. When it comes to the gender-wise and sector-wise recruitment in India, the care-work sector is regulated by the state governments, and private agencies are involved with prior approval from the ministry. Since 2015, this recruitment system has been in practice to stop fraudulent practice of private RAs while recruiting nurses to ECR countries; hence, state-run government agencies are being heavily involved (MEA 2017a). Similarly, all Indian female workers holding ECR passports and going to ECR countries for employment can be recruited directly by a foreign employer through eMigrate system by submitting necessary documents to get emigration clearance. At the same time, if a foreign employer wants to recruit Indian female workers through registered RAs, they can only do so by engaging any of the six state government agencies⁴ (MEA 2016a). However, the process of migration of Indian nurses to ECR countries will be carried out by both government agencies and private registered RAs with prior approval from the ministry. Hence, over the years, we have seen a shift in the recruitment process of workers based on gender. A sector-wise analysis shows that, for many years, the construction sector has attracted many Indian workers, along with the care-work sector, which absorbs a high number of female nurses migrating from India to the Gulf countries.

In the ME countries, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel are three relatively less-researched but interesting destinations where Indian workers’ emigration is based on sector. Since the1970s, Jordan has opened its labour market to foreign workers to meet their increasing labour demand. Unlike the GCC countries, whose oil-dependent economy, built on their rich oil resources that led to many large-scale infrastructure projects, Jordan has no oil resources and has only phosphate resources and agricultural production, which were of significantly less value. In spite of this, to meet the demand for low-wage workers in the domestic sector, agriculture, construction and service industries, Jordan opened its door for both unskilled and semi-skilled emigrant workforce (International Labour Organization 2017). Data released by Jordan’s Ministry of Labour (MoL) shows that 340,995 work permits were issued for foreign workers in 2017. Of this, Indian nationals made up six per cent of all male permit holders, with the majority of them being Egyptian nationals (male) (67 per cent) followed by Syrian nationals (male) (15 per cent). Interestingly, majority of male emigrants are employed in agriculture and manufacturing sectors (apparel and garment) (Sweidan n.d.). Further, in 2018, data published by Jordan’s MoL shows that about 76 per cent of emigrant workforces are in garment sector, with workers from Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka constituting the majority of this workforce.⁵ According to legal work permits issued to foreign workers by MoL, Table 1.2 provides nationality-wise share of workforce engaged in Jordan’s garment sector as of March 2018.

Table 1.2 Nationality-wise migrant workers in garment sector, 2018

Looking at another ME country, Lebanon, the flow of emigration is characterised by a high proportion of workforce engaged in low-skilled work, with a young and educated local population having moved abroad. Hence, Lebanon exports skilled labour and imports unskilled workers. Further, unskilled workers constituted mostly immigrants; they work in low-productive economic activities as domestic workers, construction labourers, car repair workers, attendants at fuel station and so on. Only a small per cent of workers is engaged in the hospitality and industrial sectors (Jaoude 2015). Just like in Jordan, Bangladeshi workforce constitutes the second largest emigrant population in Lebanon, with Indian workers ranked at the seventh position according to 2015 data published by Lebanon’s MoL. Moreover, like Nepalese workers, Indian workers in Lebanon are largely employed in construction sector (De Bel-Air 2017). However, other data also shows nearly 8500 Indian nationals are in Lebanon, with most of them working in companies, agriculture farms and so on.⁶ This trend shows that the traditional dirty, dangerous and difficult jobs featured by secondary labour market are carried out by foreign workers (Jureidini 2001).

Another interesting country is Israel; however, it is a relatively less-researched destination in terms of the basic characteristics of Indian emigrant workforce there. Historically, in the early 1990s, Israel started to recruit workers from developing countries to work in specific economic sectors, due to increasing demand for additional workers, particularly low-skilled workers to work in agriculture, construction and caregiving sectors (Population and Immigration Authority 2016). In Israel, among the four main categories of migrants, temporary migrant workers (TMWs) are legally allowed to enter the country under work permit, the details of which are discussed later in the chapter. In addition to low-skilled workers, skilled specialist foreign workers and daily Jordanian workers are also included in TMWs. Since 2013, we can see the trend in the growing number of TMWs legally entering Israel (Table 1.3).

Table 1.3 Year-wise entry of TMWs in Israel, 2009–16

Indian TMWs in Israel constituted about 12.9 per cent of the total share in 2015, and subsequently showed a decline in numbers in 2016 (10.6 per cent). From Table 1.4, we can see a significant number of the total TMWs in Israel’s caregiving sector. Among the major countries of origin, India occupies the second position, and the Philippines tops the list. Interestingly, data shows a constant increase in the flow of Indian workers in caregiving sector (home care). At this junction, it is to be noted that Israel is not in the ECR countries list, so it is exempted from the usual recruiting procedures related to emigration. This opens the door for Israel to be a potential destination for Indians to work in the caregiving sector, as compared with other ME countries.

Table 1.4 Major origin country of TMWs in home care, 2011–16

In Israel, to meet a labour shortage in agriculture sector, TMWs come from Thailand and Sri Lanka. To fulfil the requirement for additional workforce in the construction sector, TMWs are imported from China, Moldova, Romania, Turkey and Bulgaria (Population and Immigration Authority 2016). Thus, we can see the presence of unique composition of workers from different geographical locality in Israel to work in the three main sectors. At the same time, the caregiving sector has a much wider composition of TMWs from different origin countries, as compared to other two sectors.

From literature point of view, this section is important as it discusses about untouched destinations where Indian workers are emigrating. Further, we discuss about the recent changes made by the Indian government to recruit female workers to work in the ECR countries as nurses and for other jobs, especially as domestic workers. In the following section, we are going to discuss the major issues faced by Indian workers emigrating to the ME countries.

Labour Issues in the ME Countries

Ministry of External Affairs (2018a, 2019) reported that from time to time they receive grievances from Indian workers in 18 ECR countries (see Table 1.5). Most of the grievances are related to contract violation, poor working and living conditions, salary issues, problems with the employer and issues related to medical, insurance, death compensation and claims. Also, economic slowdown caused due to fall in crude oil prices forced the employers to terminate the workers’ contract. Moreover, incidents of unpaid wages were also largely reported due to economy slowdown in the Gulf region. For instance, in 2017, from Saudi Arabia, nearly 4870 Indians working in two main companies, namely Saudi Oger and the Saad group, were deported due to job loss.

Table 1.5 Grievances filed by Indian workers in Indian Missions in selected ME countries

Similarly, Indian women workers, especially working as domestic workers, reported their grievances to Indian Missions in the GCC countries. As compared to general Indian emigrant issues, the hardship faced by female domestic workers is relatively high, particularly those related to physical abuse. Moreover, female domestic workers tend to emigrate illegally without proper contract and by violating the recruitment framework prescribed by the Indian government to work in any ECR country. From Table 1.6, we can see the number of grievances filed at Indian Missions in the GCC countries. The same data shows an overall increase in the total number of grievances received, and the country-wise data depicts the increase in the number of grievances received from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, followed by Oman. Shockingly, unauthorised Indian RAs en route female workers to a third country on tourist visa, and thereafter they emigrate to the GCC countries on employment visa, bypassing the Indian government norms to protect and safeguard the female workers (MEA 2017b).

Table 1.6 Grievances filed by Indian female domestic workers in Indian Missions

In connection to undocumented migration, amnesty provided by the GCC countries also helps to know the presence of Indian workers staying/working illegally in those countries. Although this data is a tip of the iceberg, but still it helps to show the problem of undocumented migration. From 2014 to December 2017, nearly 101,336 Indians from different countries returned to India due to various reasons. The country-wise (GCC countries) breakdown of the Indians returned is presented in Table 1.7. From the data, it is obvious that large number of Indians who worked in Saudi Arabia returned to India, followed by those working in Kuwait.

Table 1.7 Country-wise Indians returning to India

Another major problem is the functioning of unauthorised/illegal RAs all over India. There are number of legal RAs sending workers to ECR countries; however, there are also illegitimate RAs sending workers in a fraudulent way. Like labour-related grievances, the MEA also receives complaints about the functioning of fraudulent RAs. Since workers are emigrating illegally, unless the cases are reported by the victims or caught by the concern authorities, the details of such workers migrating to other countries are not fully available with the ministry. Data presented in Table 1.8 shows the number of cases related to illegal agent/agency forwarded to the state police for further action under the Emigration Act, 1983, by the ministry. Data indicates that cases related to illegal RAs are filed more in Delhi, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh than in other states.

Table 1.8 Number of complaints related to illegal agent/agency

Another issue that emerged in the recent years is internal strife in countries in the ME region. In consequence, Indians residing in the conflict-affected countries like Iraq, Syria and Yemen were evacuated safely from these regions. For example, according to MEA data, in 2015, nearly 4748 Indians were evacuated from Yemen, over 7000 Indians from Iraq returned home and over 1000 Indians from Syria safely returned home in 2012 (MEA 2016c). Hence, internal conflict in some ME countries has been an issue for past few years which has had an impact on the Indian workers.

To sum up, following are some of the main problems Indian workers have faced in the ME countries for a long time: illegal emigration and employment-related issues like poor working and living conditions, salary issues, renewal of work permit, physical and workplace abuse, particularly for female domestic workers, companies shutdown due to economic slowdown, war and internal conflict at destination countries.

Future Labour Market Prospects in the ME Countries

In 2018, major labour-exporting countries in South Asia such as Bangladesh, Pakistan and India showed a sharp drop in labourers emigrating to the ME countries (see Table 1.9). The decline can be connected with the economic slowdown faced by the GCC countries. But it is predicted that in 2020, the GCC countries will become worth US$2trn economy.⁷ Despite labour market uncertainty caused by multiple factors, the demand for low- and semi-skilled migrant workers in the GCC countries’ private sectors is predicted to remain high in the short term. There are numerous mega development projects such as UAE Expo 2020 and Qatar World Cup 2022, as well as the infrastructure and service needs for the growing GCC population, that require foreign workers in labour market. Many of these labour-intensive jobs cannot be mechanised or nationalised (Malit Jr and Naufal 2017).

Table 1.9 Number of workers emigrated to the GCC countries from South Asia

Meanwhile, Kinninmont (2015) analysed the future labour trend in the GCC countries and found that, for decades, most of the GCC countries have been taking measures to implement nationalisation of labour force, but they struggle to achieve its objectives mainly due to conflict of interest between the major stakeholders (bureaucracy and private sector owners). Instead, the general trend shows an increase in expatriate presence in the GCC countries. Further, ramification in economic policy, like proposing infrastructure projects, will draw workers in the coming years. At the same time, pressure from influential business owners to import cheap workers mainly to work in construction sector will definitely have an effect on the government’s nationalisation policy. Therefore, we believe that the current economic decline is expected to boom in the coming years, and it will probably increase the demand for unskilled and semi-skilled workers in core sectors.

This section aimed to understand the contemporary migrant labour composition in the ME countries from Indian perspective. A rapid analysis of data on emigrant workers was made to understand the emerging Indian emigrant workers in Israel, which is unique. Thereafter, with the help of available database published by MEA, we could be able to analyse the existing challenges and problems pertaining to Indian workers moving to the ME countries. At the same time, it is depressing to see the failure in addressing issues such as illegal emigration, exploitation of female domestic workers and mushrooming unauthorised RAs. Finally, despite these issues and changing political dimensions in the ME countries, it is implausible to replace the low- and semi-skilled workforce in these countries as indigenous workforce is reluctant to fill and take-up “dirty, dangerous and demeaning” jobs.

Organisation and Salient Features of the Book

The book is distinct in making available studies on regions and countries that have traditionally been overlooked and have not attracted much academic attention till date. Some of the new and original research studies that are included in the study are labour migration from Egypt to the Middle East and from Philippines to Lebanon, migrant experiences and policy prospects in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, and Indian migration to the Gulf.

This book also brings out several studies that focus on migration from individual states in India. Apart from some new studies on migration from Kerala to the Middle East, the book contains studies on migration from Tamil Nadu, Telugu-speaking states (Telangana and Andhra Pradesh), Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. These are very relevant to the debate since recent studies indicate a shift in migrant trends to the Middle East, as low-skilled labour migration from Kerala is gradually being overtaken by migration of low skilled labourers from other Indian states. Thus, the book fills a critical gap in migration research by studying migration from various Indian states.

Based on the earlier set of the data from the revised version of the World Population Prospects 2012—the official United Nations population estimates and projections released in 2013—a new dimension in research on migration from India is also being studied—an unexpected phenomenon of multiple openings of demographic window of economic opportunity (not documented in demographic literature) observed in a few Arab countries due to heavy return of old-aged migrant expatriates to their home country (Saxena 2017). It is also argued that the phenomenon of multiple openings of demographic window could also be observed in countries having extremely large fluctuations in crude birth rates (CBRs) in the past. But the latter may not have so much impact on the number of openings of the window as found in case of migrants aged 60+ years returning to their home country. The impact of international out-migration on intergenerational educational mobility among children in migrant-sending households in Kerala and forced migration of Kerala Muslims to the Gulf are some of the interesting topics included in the book.

With conflict and political instability persisting in the Middle East and the nationalisation policies implemented by the Gulf countries, timely research studies are essential in order to evolve informed policies to deal with migration. The studies included in this edited volume are crucial contributions to the growing literature on migration and will be of immense academic interest to scholars, policymakers and other relevant stakeholders.

The opening chapter starts with the significance of labour migration to Middle East countries from Asia. In the past, this region absorbed high volume of labourers from Asia to work in both unskilled and semi-skilled jobs. This mobility has given rise to various issues; the unsolved labour issues such as operation of illegal recruiting agents and illegal migration and problems at destination countries such as salary issues, working and living conditions, abuse and so on, which are discussed in this chapter by focusing, in large part, on India. Importantly, emerging new destinations like Israel are discussed to highlight the swift mobility of Asian female care workers from the GCC countries due to large number of exploitation cases reported in recent years and ban imposed by some source countries in Asia to recruit female care workers. Thus, gender-wise and sector-wise labour mobility to the ME is discussed to show the characteristics of Asian migrant workforce in this region. Finally, the economic diversification taking place in the Gulf countries shows optimism in their economic growth and in creating jobs. However, in the past few years, we have seen a decline in Asian workforce moving to the Gulf, but the ongoing economic reforms in the Gulf need cheap expatriate workers to meet their labour shortage in private sectors.

For boosting the country’s economic growth, it is essential to know “What is demographic dividend and what is its role and significance in increasing the National Income?” During the demographic transition from high fertility and high mortality to low fertility and low mortality, age structure of population undergoes age-structural changes. Prem Saxena reviews this aspect in Chap. 2. As a consequence, a stage comes when the growth rate of population in the working ages exceeds the growth rate of total population. In economic terms, it means that production exceeds the consumption and the surplus available could be used for economic growth. It has been empirically found that the relationship between GDP growth rate and demographic dividend is positive, and its impact on economic growth of a country could be miraculous. However, according to Lee and Mason (2008), demographic dividend is a one-time opportunity, available only for a short duration of 30 years to 50 years, and it is not automatic. The latter implies that for reaping maximum benefit for this period, the respective governments should assert to create employment for the new entrants to the working age groups. This requires planning in advance to offer jobs to maximum number of youths. For the planning, it is necessary to know the expected time when the window of economic opportunity would open and how long such a favourable period would last. The present chapter, using the latest available United Nations population projections made in 2017 and released in 2018, gives the estimated years of opening and closure of demographic window, and thus the duration of reaping economic benefits for the countries of the Middle East. The chapter also discusses the migration scenario in the least developed countries of the Middle East in turbulent times. Most of the countries of the Middle East suffered economically and socially due to frequent unrests, wars, civil wars and conflicts. War-stricken countries, particularly the six least developed countries, namely, Comoros, Djibouti, Mauritania, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, have been predominantly out-migrating states, and immigration has been virtually nil.

In Chap. 3, Ibrahim Awad and Lina Lotayef review labour migration from Egypt to the Arab Middle East in the last 40 years and its outcomes. It also signals the issues it has faced all along, and which still call for solutions. Egyptian labour migration to countries in the Arab Middle East transformed into a mass movement in the mid-1970s. Two factors were behind this transformation. The first was the very high growth in demand for labour in oil-exporting countries in the Gulf after the historical oil price increase of 1973–74. The second factor was Egypt’s drive to find external employment outlets to its fast-growing labour force. In addition to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Egyptian migrant workers also headed to Iraq, until 1990, as well as to Libya, Jordan and Lebanon. Labour migration to the Arab Middle East has come to represent 75 per cent of total Egyptian migration. In the present chapter, the authors opined that migration has not been a solution to the employment question the country has and still is experiencing. Supply of labour is still in excess of demand. Further, the authors observed that job quality has not improved. The overall skill quality of the labour force has not been upgraded either. However, individual workers and their families have benefitted from their migration experiences through remittances, which allow meeting their needs and alleviating their poverty.

Hierarchically, Filipina domestic workers have developed a reputation of being the most revered of other nationalities engaged in domestic work abroad, largely because of their higher levels of education and command over English as the intermediary language of communication in the Middle East. Ray Jureidini briefly traces the history of Filipinas in Lebanon, the development of human rights activism and the role of the government of the Philippines in its management of labour migration. The research addresses two case studies: first, on the evacuation of Philippine nationals from Lebanon during the 2006 Israeli invasion of Lebanon; and second, on the particular deaths of four Filipinas in 2004 and how the Philippines government responded. The discussion covers live-in as well as freelance domestic work and the beginnings of union coverage for migrant domestic workers in Lebanon. The chapter concludes that attempts by the Philippines government and human rights organisations to regulate and protect migrant domestic workers in Lebanon have not been particularly successful. Despite the Philippines government’s minimum wage requirements since 2006 and a ban on domestic workers paying private recruitment agencies, there is still evidence of serious labour and human rights violations.

Characterised by special demographics such as national contours, the competitive labour markets, the large swell of emigrant workers which involves a sudden surge in the growth and migration levels, sharply dropping fertility rates and a gross loss of balance at both the regional and urban levels, Saudi Arabia along with the surrounding Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states now faces the monumental task of revising policies and programmes related to population. Rshood Khraif, Asharaf Abdul Salam, P.S. Nair, and Ibrahim Elsegaey have done a thorough critical analysis of migration data to (i) scrutinise closely, the niches of the popular drifts in the migration of the Saudi citizens across the numerous expansive governmental factions in Saudi, (ii) probe and appraise the numerous effects of migration on the swarming levels of population in the country as well as the surrounding GCC countries, (iii) examine and imbibe the ever-changing annual variations in the phenomenon of migration within the nation as well as the GCC countries, (iv) study the people migrating between homes through various factors such as their original place of birth or native place and (v) critically inspect the contrasting features between the migrants from other countries and the citizens of Saudi in terms of immediate demographic parameters such as their rate of population growth, changing sex ratios, broadened age groups and age-sex distribution. Highly accurate databases from the Saudi Arabian national censuses, the US Census Bureau and the World Bank Bilateral Migration were reviewed thoroughly, studied further and scrutinised based on the available statistics. The indigenous population that thrives within Saudi Arabia executes their migration between the various regions within the nation based on the varying strength of the pulls and pushes that rise as a result of the crucial infrastructure differentials that contribute to many employment propensities while also affecting their quality of life. With GCC occupying the larger piece of land and thereby carrying a larger population, Saudi Arabia makes it highly unique for those individuals who experience the international migration streams that are caused by the labour requirements and the governmental regulations that are laid down for both the Arabs and non-Arabs. On the other hand, the demographics concerning the immigrants are influenced by the Kingdom’s labour requirements which are heavily dominated by male adult civilians who migrate from other countries.

Seema Gaur attempts to enhance the understanding of the evolution of the Indian government policy for protection of unskilled and semi-skilled migrants and assesses whether the policies are adequate and effective. The chapter revisits a study done by the author on Indian migrant workers based on first-hand data collected in the host country Lebanon during late 1990s, regarding poor living and working conditions of migrants and their exploitation. The study had brought out the need for the intervention by the government of sending countries to frame effective policies to protect the migrant workers from exploitation and inhuman treatment. Since then, Indian government has undertaken several measures for the protection of low-skilled migrant workers, especially in the Middle East. Drawing upon comprehensive literature review and anecdotal evidence, it has been observed that the exploitation of low-skilled Indian migrant workers in the Middle East continues unabated. Thereafter, a comprehensive look is taken of the migrants’ rights, and efforts made to protect them at various levels including the steps taken by the Indian government. We find that emigration governance framework in India, in addition to exploitative policies in destination countries, emerged as one of the key contributory factors. In the last section of this chapter, we give several suggestions for improving the migrant workers conditions at both origin and at host countries. The recommendations including adoption of pro-migration policies by the sending countries with cooperation from host countries, to ensure that migrants do not fall prey to unscrupulous agents at home and are protected at destination countries.

South-South migration has been a largely neglected subject matter in migration studies, although it constitutes an important part of overall migration flows. Especially labour migration to the Gulf region occupies a central position in this regard. The aim of this chapter is to analyse Indian labour migration to the Gulf region, one of the most important migration paths to the region, by emphasising the whole process of migration, from its initiation to the return migration which gained less academic attention. Serhat Yalçin proposes an analytical framework covering the dimensions of entry, stay, work and exit of migrant workers, allowing incorporating the reasons for and the process of migration, the working and living conditions of migrant workers in the host country and the process of return migration. Based on semi-structured interviews with Indian migrant workers, the chapter analyses these different dimensions and critically discusses the results with reference to already existing literature on these different dimensions. On many occasions, the interviews confirm findings already presented in different studies. But they also highlight many points which did not gain much academic interest, especially regarding differences between skilled and low-skilled migrant workers. The chapter concludes by discussing three less analysed topics for further research emanating from the interviews, namely: (i) the importance of intra-class differences within the Indian migrant working class, (ii) the role of the Indian state in the context of Indian labour migration and (iii) the need for an approach incorporating the mobility of both capital and labour from India to the Gulf region.

India to Gulf emigration is not a new phenomenon. Its history dates back to several centuries ago. The massive flow of emigration from India significantly started from mid-1970s. During 1973–74, the oil companies were mushrooming in West Asia. Thousands of Indians came to the Gulf, especially from Kerala. In India, Kerala has a significant number of emigrants that end up in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries every year. According to the CDS Migration Survey series from 1998 to 2014, international migration from Kerala accounted to 13.6 Lakh in 1998, which increased to 24 Lakh in 2014. The Gulf emigration registered about 93.9 per cent of the total emigration in 1998, and a decline to 86.3 per cent in 2014. Based on this background, S. Irudaya Rajan and K.C. Zachariah examine Keralite emigrants to Gulf and the role of their remittances on Kerala’s economy. In addition, the study also analyses socio-demographic conditions of emigrants from Kerala to the Gulf countries. The study has used the data obtained from Kerala Migration Survey series from 1998 to 2014, undertaken by the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram. The study uses two variants of ratio method for estimating: The first method employs the ratio of migrants in the sample of the locality to the number of HHs in the locality and is called household method; the second method which used the ratio of migrants in a locality to the population in the locality is referred to as the population method. This study found that Gulf emigrants and their remittances significantly contributed to the state economy and at the same time improved the educational profile of the emigrants. Based on these results, it can safely be assumed that similar trends in the socioeconomic conditions of the emigrants from Kerala would have occurred wherever they had migrated.

The distant tropes and mystique of the Gulf countries lure huge bands of immigrants from the state of Kerala and is one of the chiefly analysed segment in the nuanced study of migration and development literature in India. As is every case where a significant chunk of people are left ignored, the Muslims who are the major migrators in Kerala occupy a very little portion in these studies. With this in mind, Ajmal Khan A.T. focuses his research on the harsh and involuntary nature of the situations of Muslims living in the Malappuram district of Kerala that forces them to migrate to the Gulf countries. Thus, this chapter premising its argument on the field work done in a Muslim populated village in Malappuram district, states that the broad generalised reasons found for Muslim migration to the Gulf countries within the pages bound in literature, are highly insufficient and fall short of proper knowledge and understanding of the required scenario. The chapter consults numerous resources and methods such as poring through the currently available literature on migration from Kerala to the Gulf countries, seeking information from a large slice of knowledgeable individuals that inhabit the area, the dire conditions of Muslims in Malabar in the wake of the socioeconomic and political situations prevailing in the 1960s, the 1970s and the 1980s. Based on these gatherings, the chapter poses an argument that widespread unemployment and poverty that crippled these people through the last three to four decades, Umrah and easy free visa facility to the expansive kingdom of Saudi Arabia, unbridled existence of dowry and expensive marriages in the village, the glamorous hopes and dreams for the Gulf countries that will extinguish their cruel suffering in poverty acted as the major factors that forced the migration of loads of people from Malappuram to the Gulf countries. Anu Abraham investigates the determinants of international remittance flow into the Kerala economy. It explores the influence of socio-demographic and migration-specific characteristics of the migrated individual and the migrant-sending (remittance receiving) households on the amount of remittance transfers. Using data from the 2010 Kerala Migration Survey, the amount of remittance sent by a migrant is taken as the dependent variable and an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analysis. The results suggest that the migrant’s individual characters have a strong influence on the remittance-sending behaviour, while the characteristics of the remittance-receiving household have a weaker influence. The migration-specific characteristics—the duration of migration, destination country and presence of dependents abroad—significantly affect the amount of remittance sent.

Tamil Nadu Migration Survey, 2015, was conducted to have the migration data for Tamil Nadu and understand its impact, as the series of Kerala Migration Surveys helped the government of Kerala in framing policies based on the results. Tamil Nadu Migration Survey results have estimated that there are 2.2 million emigrants from Tamil Nadu who are living abroad, which is around 3 per cent of the total population of Tamil Nadu. Though Singapore is estimated to receive the largest number of emigrants from Tamil Nadu, accounting to 410,000, followed by UAE with 400,000 emigrants, GCC states between them receive over half of the emigrants, estimated to be 1.1 million. Tamil Nadu has a long history of its people migrating to Singapore and Malaysia and settling there. This had started in the pre-independence era, but the Gulf migration started recently, and it gives different opportunities compared to Singapore or Malaysia. This chapter explores the characteristic distinctions of migration to GCC states. Through descriptive data analysis, the chapter explores the demographic data, and it shows 20 per cent of all migrants to non-GCC countries are females, compared to 9 per cent in case of the GCC countries. It also finds that Muslim population migrating to GCC is four times larger than the share of Muslim population migrating to the non-GCC countries. Educational status of migrants is naturally different as the GCC countries require different educational qualification as compared to the non-GCC countries, and especially it is seen that one-third of the migrants to the non-GCC countries have a college degree or more. Wage problems seem to exist among return migrants from both the countries, but it is slightly higher in case of the GCC countries. As problems such as compulsory expatriation and poor working conditions are some of the reasons for returning among GCC migrants, most migrants in the non-GCC countries return due to family problems and/or expiry of contract. Though countries such as Singapore and USA have higher per-migrant remittance, the analysis and approximation of remittances reveal that the GCC countries contribute to almost 50 per cent of all migration. S. Irudaya Rajan and E. Sownthara Rajan conclude by explaining the need to emphasise the importance of devising policies for migrants to the GCC countries by understating their characteristics thoroughly.

The Indian labour migration to the Gulf countries got momentum in the early 1970s as a result of the price hike of oil. The consequent earnings of large revenues from oil led to the process of industrialisation and modernisation in the six GCC countries characterised by massive investment in social and economic infrastructure. This development required the service of a large number of foreign workers, as the GCC countries could not provide the indigenous labour supplies. These foreign workers mostly came from South Asian countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka for working in construction sites and oil companies. However, in recent times, the situation has changed either because of huge competition among foreign labourers in the Gulf countries or because of Gulf economic crisis. As a result, the Gulf countries are not allowing free migration; instead, they are charging huge visa fees from migrants and are also very selective. Trilok Chandan Goud and Ajaya Kumar Sahoo attempt to study reasons for migration of Indians to the Gulf countries, with a special focus on Telugu migrants from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states. The chapter further examines in detail the push and pull factors for migration, migrant networks, social conditions of migrants and the socioeconomic impact of the Gulf migration on the migrants and their left-behind families.

The magnitude and pace of international migration has been on the rise in the history of human civilisation. The revolutions in information and communication technology along with speedy advancement in transportation facilities have accelerated the process incredibly in recent times. The cross-border movements of people for long distances and considerably for a long duration have many dimensions attached to it. These also vary with time and space as well as, at the same time, for different migrant groups. Jeetendra D. Soni assesses labour emigration from three districts of Rajasthan, namely, Sikar, Jhunjhunu and Churu, to find its impact on the development of these districts. The people immigrated to the Gulf region for better job prospects and financial avenues. For the present study, a purposive sample of 600 emigrants was selected from the study area, and the required data was collected through personal interview method. The primary objective of the present study has been to ascertain whether or not the emigrants were able to provide economic, social and psychological security to their families left behind in the country of origin. The present investigations also aimed at identifying multifaceted problems faced by semi-skilled and unskilled labourers and the role of the mediators in resolving their issues. The empirical evidence gathered from the analysis of the data collected from semi-skilled and unskilled labour emigrants’ attempts to uncover migration and development relationship for the study region.

Mashkoor Ahmad aims to investigate the process of male emigration from urban areas of Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh—the most populous state of India. The state, being the most populous and one of the poor and underdeveloped states of India, is unable to provide employment to a very large proportion of its young and adult populations. Thus, in the absence of adequate employment opportunities, Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the largest supplier of unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled labour within the country as well as to overseas, especially to the Gulf countries. In the present chapter, an attempt has been made to find the annual trends of emigrants, their engagement in economic activity in the host country, destination, and the amount of money sent home and its frequency. In addition to these information, arrangement of money to bear the emigration costs, as well as the data on the total amount of money spent on the entire emigration process including the expenses incurred on fraudulent payment made (if any) to unscrupulous agent and/or middleman, has also been discussed. The study is based on both primary and secondary sources of data. Simple descriptive statistical methods have been used to analyse the data. The data revealed that Uttar Pradesh has been the largest supplier of labour, especially to the Gulf countries. Most of the emigrants were motivated by economic reasons or had poor economic conditions at home. However, after emigrating to the Gulf countries, they were not only employed but were also getting higher wages and were thus able to send money to their homes regularly. Further, the data revealed that since the urban areas of Bijnor district were predominantly inhabited by Muslims, Saudi Arabia has been the most preferred destination for the majority of the emigrants.

Migration is a gendered experience. Who moves and who does not, the resources that can be allocated for an individual’s movement, the networks that can be tapped to facilitate mobility, the sectors of the economy where there are possibilities of employment, the conditions of work, family support required, the usage of remittances and so on are issues that impact men and women differently. Moreover, the impact of migration on personal relationships is said to be more significant for women migrants than for men migrants. While structuralist, neoliberal or network theorists explain migration in a gender-neutral manner, feminist theorists draw out the contexts and challenges specific to women’s migration. Moreover, they give equal importance to the question of what happens after migration. They prefer to study the migration through personal narratives that help explain the nuances of experiences. Nilanjana Ray draws upon some extant anthropological studies on the migration experience of women from Kerala who work as nurses and domestic workers in the Middle East and critically analyses them through the feminist lens. The first section presents the essence of the feminist framework. Using this analytical frame, the second section revisits the narratives of nurse migration. In a similar manner, section three explores the narratives of domestic worker migration. Finally, section four compares the experiences of the two migration streams.

Growing sociopolitical pressure forced the GCC countries to implement nationalisation policy at different point of time to bring down the participation of foreign workforce and to recruit their nationals to address unemployment problem faced by their citizens. This situation has raised serious academic discussion on Gulf nationalisation policy and its impact on foreign workforce flow in past and future. In this context, the final chapter comprehensively addressed this point by examining the composition of the Gulf labour market, economic diversification plans in this region, need of expatriate workers and major issues in the implementation of nationalisation policy. Associated with labour market, Kafala system is also discussed to bring out the vulnerability faced by blue-collar workers due to this practice along with the recent reforms incorporated by Qatar government to abolish this system. Hence, the Gulf countries should come forward to make policy measures to replace Kafala system so that more flexibility and fair treatment of workers can be exercised.