The Hindu Business Line : Woes of the migrant workers

With better working and living conditions in West Asia, the non-resident Keralite worker can give back much more to both his adopted land in the Gulf and his home State of Kerala.

As most observers of Kerala know, the economy of the State is largely buoyed by remittances from the lakhs of Malayalees toiling in countries beyond its borders. Arguably, these remittances help shore up the socio-economic indicators that make Kerala a far better place to live in than many of its richer and more industrialised neighbours.

The welfare of non-resident Keralites (NRKs) and overseas workers is thus a matter of grave concern for both the government and the people of the State. So last week's news that ten workers from Kerala were jailed in the Maldives following a dispute during the construction of the Fezdu Fun Island Resort in Male, was disturbing to thousands of families in the State.

Earlier, some reports said that 58 workers had been jailed, which the Chief Minister Oommen Chandy's office promptly denied. According to newspaper reports, the High Commissioner informed the Chief Minster that arrangements had been made to enable all the workers who wanted to return home to do so.

Yet, to return to a situation of scarce livelihood opportunities is not what the average NRK desires. Rather, these workers would like - and deserve - better and more decent working and living conditions in the adopted countries of residence. The most important of these are in the Gulf region in West Asia. Of the estimated 17 lakh Keralites who reside outside India, close to 90 per cent are there. Also, over 90 per cent of remittances worth Rs 18,400 crore sent by NRKs in 2003-04 were from the Middle East.

If the Gulf is like a home away from home for thousands of Keralites, it can hardly be surprising that conditions in those lands are critically monitored and evaluated here in Kerala. Last week the Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs, Vayalar Ravi, said in Abu Dhabi that he was committed to bring about a quick solution to some of the pressing problems plaguing Gulf workers.

"There is a large Indian workforce in the Gulf States and they have many problems that deserve our help. I have initiated measures to address some of these issues," he said.

Some of them can be gleaned from the recent unrest by migrant workers in Dubai, which spread from construction workers who rioted at one skyscraper building site to others working on a new airport terminal.

The protests came from hundreds of thousands of underpaid workers from India, Pakistan, China and other Asian countries. Asian workers, who form 90 percent of Dubai's private workforce, were said to be fed up with low wages, dangerous working conditions, squalid living quarters in desert camps and a lack of legal protection.

The unrest was characterised by Human Rights Watch, the New York-based non-governmental organization, as a reaction to abusive labour practices. "One of the world's largest construction booms is feeding off workers in Dubai, but they are treated as less than human," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "It's no surprise that some workers have started rioting in protest. What's surprising is that the Government of the UAE is doing nothing to solve the problem."

Though the skyscraper strike was settled, the UAE Government has been unwilling to make a real commitment to stop systematic abuses by employers, including the extended non-payment of wages, the denial of proper medical care, and the squalid conditions in which most migrant workers live, Human Rights Watch said.

Migrant workers comprise nearly 90 percent of the workforce in the private sector in the UAE. They are denied basic rights such as freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, the organisation added.

To be fair to the UAE Government, it reacted responsibly. Hours after the Human Rights Watch charge, the country's Labour Minister Ali al-Kaabi said that a law is in the making to give workers the right to form trade unions and bargain collectively.

The Minister added that the law, to be in place by year's end, was required by the United States before a free-trade pact could be completed with the UAE, a growing global economic and trading power.

This is certainly good news for the NRK worker. With better working and living conditions, he can give back much more to both his adopted land in the Gulf as well as to his home State of Kerala.

The writer can be contacted at kgkumar@gmail.com