The buses that hurtle down the road towards you have names like Al Jazeera and Emirates. The board of the kirana shop by the road announces that the place is, in fact, Fathima Gulf Bazaar. This is Malappuram, the district in north Kerala that has 400,000 of its population abroad, according to the Centre for Development Studies, a Thiruvananthapuram-based socio-economic research institute. Many are in Saudi Arabia. The norm, old-timers will tell you, is to pack youngsters off to "the Gulf" as soon as they finish their Class 10 exams because that is the road to prosperity. But if the screaming headlines of Malayalam dailies through most of last week are to be believed, the Saudi dream is crumbling and as many as 100,000 Keralites may be shipped back home.
The trigger for this is Saudi Arabia's directive to establishments to localise labour, the deadline for which lapsed in March. The Saudi kingdom is enforcing a labour policy called nitaqat (meaning classification) under which any establishment employing more than 10 people would have to ensure at least 10 per cent of its work force comprised Saudis. If it had less than 10 employees, at least one of them would have to be a Saudi. The term 'nitaqat' refers to the three categories in which establishments would fall, depending on the degree of compliance with the policy of localisation: green would be 'safe', yellow 'half-way there' and red, 'non-compliant, so likely to face closure'. The policy forms part of the Saudi government's efforts to tackle double-digit unemployment and unrest among the youth, preventing the oil-rich kingdom from going the way of Tunisia, Egypt and other Jasmine Revolution countries, where the youth played a significant role in the uprisings.
In Kakkaad, a village in Malappuram, Shaukat Aziz (name changed on request) awaits the return of his nephew, Salim. "He told us there is intense checking going on," says Aziz. Salim has been in Saudi Arabia for 23 years now, but was caught working in an establishment that was not his sponsor's. Aziz's brother, who works in Jeddah, has been holed up in his room for a fortnight now, fearing that he will be caught and jailed for working for a sponsor other than the one named on his iqama, or residency permit, and worse, deported and prohibited from working in Saudi Arabia again. Others like 52-year-old Ali Koya MP, a Kozhikode resident, came back on leave two weeks ago to avoid being caught for working for a different sponsor. He plans to stay home for a few months.
In the drive to localise labour, Indians working illegally are the ones being flushed out. Typically, people in this category are those who go on a driver's visa (with Saudi women prohibited from driving, there is a huge demand for drivers) and then find work elsewhere; or people running small establishments like shops or juice bars that are registered in the name of Saudis; and people who enter on a "free visa". The last is not a legitimate category of visa, only a reference to an arrangement where migrants pay a Saudi a hefty sum to sponsor a visa but are "free" to work in any establishment. There also are those who go for Haj and Umrah and then linger on.
"The people who are being sent back at the moment are those found violating immigration laws," says PMA Saleem, chairman of the Pravasi Welfare Board. Saleem's statement reflects why some organisations are defensive rather than critical of the Saudi policy. Saleem adds that the Saudis have been liberal while implementing nitaqat, giving employees time to shift to other sponsors if their's fell in the red category, as well as a two-year deadline to comply with the policy. And as KP Mohammed Kutty, Saudi chapter president of expatriate Malayali body, the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre, points out, the Saudi health department recently conducted recruitment interviews in Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram and Bangalore, proving that the Saudi government is not against Malayalis or Indians.
The return of workers, illegal though they be, will have an economic repercussion in Kerala. The assistant general manager of a leading public sector bank says the deposits in his Malappuram branches in the nine months up to December 2012 have dipped by Rs 421 crore. The number of remittances have dropped from around 40 a day to less than 20. And if up to 90 NRI accounts were once being opened every month, this number has now reduced to 40 or less. This, he says, could also be a sign that more money is being sent to Kerala through illegal channels in this atmosphere of uncertainty. Reduction in the flow of money into the state could have a ripple effect on other sectors like real estate, construction and consumer goods.
The visa, emigration and aviation sectors could also be affected in a big way if people continue to be sent back, says T Mohammed Haris, general manager of Al Hind, one of the biggest travel companies in north Kerala. Of the 800,000 visas issued by the Saudi embassy in India every year, at least 50 per cent were for Kerala and the majority of these would be employment visas, he says. Travel agencies like his collect Rs 1,000-2,000 to process each visa. Though he is reluctant to reveal specific numbers, he admits that business will be affected.
The fact that nobody knows the exact number of people staying in Saudi Arabia illegally and who are likely to return makes it difficult to gauge the impact. "Absolutely imaginary," is what KC Joseph says about the figure of 100,000 being cited in the media. Joseph is the state minister who heads the Department for NORKA, or Non-Resident Keralites' Affairs, a government body set up to look after the welfare of Malayalis abroad.
S Irudaya Rajan, professor at the Centre for Development Studies, says the issue is being "overplayed". "The policy was announced as far back as 1995 and is not likely to make a significant impact. We have to make a clear distinction between those affected by nitaqat and those being sent back for not having proper documents," says Rajan, who has studied migration for years. "The Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia has informed us there is no reason for panic," says Noyal Thomas, CEO of NORKA Roots, the field agency of NORKA. The agency has set up help desks at the three international airports in the state to collect data about returnees.
The Kerala government, meanwhile, is hoping Saudi Arabia will grant amnesty to immigrants caught without valid permits. "There are many who have been exploited by their sponsors, who took large amounts of money from them and withheld their passports. We want these people to be allowed to return to India without a ban on their re-entry to any Gulf Cooperation Council country," says Joseph. The state government plans a rehabilitation package of Rs 200,000 per person to be made available as capital for those who have been deported after spending two or more years in Saudi Arabia. Those choosing to avail of the package would have to put up around 10 per cent as margin money, says Thomas.
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on April 8 to apprise him of the situation and "convey our anxieties". Union Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi will lead a delegation to Saudi Arabia to discuss the issue with the government there.
In the first sign of easing the pressure, Arab and Malayalam media on April 5 reported that the governor of Riyadh has ordered a two-month extension of the deadline to implement nitaqat, so that business establishments could comply with regulations and employees could shift sponsors. Other governors may follow suit. However, the daily Arab News quoted a labour ministry spokesman as saying that he could neither confirm nor deny the decision.
The general view is that Saudi Arabia will continue to need immigrants for, as Rajan colourfully puts it, “jobs that are 3D -- dirty, demeaning and dangerous”. The real picture should emerge in a couple of weeks, particularly after the high-level delegation has held talks with the Saudi government.
DEPORTEES' TALE
Turn off the highway running through Pandikashala, a small village in Malappuram, and a narrow winding road will take you to Nitaqat. It is a poultry shop named in the bitter memory of the Saudi policy that sent two friends back to Kerala. Faisal Elamboorasari went to Saudi Arabia in 2006 and was working shifts in two supermarkets in Dammam, earning 2,000 riyals a month (1 Saudi riyal equals Rs 14 at current exchange rates). He was sent home last May when he failed to get his labour card renewed on grounds of non-compliance with employment regulations. The 35-year-old now earns his living selling chicken and by digging wells. His friend Nawaaz Karavaralkaad returned home in March. The 30-year-old had gone to Riyadh three years ago and worked in a boofiyah, a shop selling refreshments, earning 1,500 riyals a month. Three months ago, policemen in mufti checked the iqama of the employees and arrested 10 of the 22 workers, including Karavaralkaad, for holding invalid residency permits - their sponsor did now own the shop they were working in. After spending a week in jail, Karavaralkaad was issued a ticket to India. "I still haven't repaid the Rs 200,000 I borrowed to get the visa," says Karavaralkaad. Both the men are barred from returning to Saudi or any other Gulf Cooperation Council country for the next three years.
But Saudi dreams die hard. Despite having to fork out big sums to try and get their visas regularised even as wages for manual labour in Kerala skyrocket (digging a well can earn you Rs 700 a day, while a skilled mason would have Rs 1,000 in his pocket by the end of the day), Karavaralkaad and Elamboorasari say that given a chance, they will go back to Saudi Arabia to work again.
IN TRANSIT
(All figures relate to 2011)
(*Total number, including those in Saudi Arabia)
Source: Report on Kerala Migration Survey 2011, S Irudaya Rajan & KC Zachariah
The trigger for this is Saudi Arabia's directive to establishments to localise labour, the deadline for which lapsed in March. The Saudi kingdom is enforcing a labour policy called nitaqat (meaning classification) under which any establishment employing more than 10 people would have to ensure at least 10 per cent of its work force comprised Saudis. If it had less than 10 employees, at least one of them would have to be a Saudi. The term 'nitaqat' refers to the three categories in which establishments would fall, depending on the degree of compliance with the policy of localisation: green would be 'safe', yellow 'half-way there' and red, 'non-compliant, so likely to face closure'. The policy forms part of the Saudi government's efforts to tackle double-digit unemployment and unrest among the youth, preventing the oil-rich kingdom from going the way of Tunisia, Egypt and other Jasmine Revolution countries, where the youth played a significant role in the uprisings.
In Kakkaad, a village in Malappuram, Shaukat Aziz (name changed on request) awaits the return of his nephew, Salim. "He told us there is intense checking going on," says Aziz. Salim has been in Saudi Arabia for 23 years now, but was caught working in an establishment that was not his sponsor's. Aziz's brother, who works in Jeddah, has been holed up in his room for a fortnight now, fearing that he will be caught and jailed for working for a sponsor other than the one named on his iqama, or residency permit, and worse, deported and prohibited from working in Saudi Arabia again. Others like 52-year-old Ali Koya MP, a Kozhikode resident, came back on leave two weeks ago to avoid being caught for working for a different sponsor. He plans to stay home for a few months.
In the drive to localise labour, Indians working illegally are the ones being flushed out. Typically, people in this category are those who go on a driver's visa (with Saudi women prohibited from driving, there is a huge demand for drivers) and then find work elsewhere; or people running small establishments like shops or juice bars that are registered in the name of Saudis; and people who enter on a "free visa". The last is not a legitimate category of visa, only a reference to an arrangement where migrants pay a Saudi a hefty sum to sponsor a visa but are "free" to work in any establishment. There also are those who go for Haj and Umrah and then linger on.
"The people who are being sent back at the moment are those found violating immigration laws," says PMA Saleem, chairman of the Pravasi Welfare Board. Saleem's statement reflects why some organisations are defensive rather than critical of the Saudi policy. Saleem adds that the Saudis have been liberal while implementing nitaqat, giving employees time to shift to other sponsors if their's fell in the red category, as well as a two-year deadline to comply with the policy. And as KP Mohammed Kutty, Saudi chapter president of expatriate Malayali body, the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre, points out, the Saudi health department recently conducted recruitment interviews in Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram and Bangalore, proving that the Saudi government is not against Malayalis or Indians.
* * *
The return of workers, illegal though they be, will have an economic repercussion in Kerala. The assistant general manager of a leading public sector bank says the deposits in his Malappuram branches in the nine months up to December 2012 have dipped by Rs 421 crore. The number of remittances have dropped from around 40 a day to less than 20. And if up to 90 NRI accounts were once being opened every month, this number has now reduced to 40 or less. This, he says, could also be a sign that more money is being sent to Kerala through illegal channels in this atmosphere of uncertainty. Reduction in the flow of money into the state could have a ripple effect on other sectors like real estate, construction and consumer goods.
The visa, emigration and aviation sectors could also be affected in a big way if people continue to be sent back, says T Mohammed Haris, general manager of Al Hind, one of the biggest travel companies in north Kerala. Of the 800,000 visas issued by the Saudi embassy in India every year, at least 50 per cent were for Kerala and the majority of these would be employment visas, he says. Travel agencies like his collect Rs 1,000-2,000 to process each visa. Though he is reluctant to reveal specific numbers, he admits that business will be affected.
The fact that nobody knows the exact number of people staying in Saudi Arabia illegally and who are likely to return makes it difficult to gauge the impact. "Absolutely imaginary," is what KC Joseph says about the figure of 100,000 being cited in the media. Joseph is the state minister who heads the Department for NORKA, or Non-Resident Keralites' Affairs, a government body set up to look after the welfare of Malayalis abroad.
S Irudaya Rajan, professor at the Centre for Development Studies, says the issue is being "overplayed". "The policy was announced as far back as 1995 and is not likely to make a significant impact. We have to make a clear distinction between those affected by nitaqat and those being sent back for not having proper documents," says Rajan, who has studied migration for years. "The Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia has informed us there is no reason for panic," says Noyal Thomas, CEO of NORKA Roots, the field agency of NORKA. The agency has set up help desks at the three international airports in the state to collect data about returnees.
The Kerala government, meanwhile, is hoping Saudi Arabia will grant amnesty to immigrants caught without valid permits. "There are many who have been exploited by their sponsors, who took large amounts of money from them and withheld their passports. We want these people to be allowed to return to India without a ban on their re-entry to any Gulf Cooperation Council country," says Joseph. The state government plans a rehabilitation package of Rs 200,000 per person to be made available as capital for those who have been deported after spending two or more years in Saudi Arabia. Those choosing to avail of the package would have to put up around 10 per cent as margin money, says Thomas.
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on April 8 to apprise him of the situation and "convey our anxieties". Union Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi will lead a delegation to Saudi Arabia to discuss the issue with the government there.
In the first sign of easing the pressure, Arab and Malayalam media on April 5 reported that the governor of Riyadh has ordered a two-month extension of the deadline to implement nitaqat, so that business establishments could comply with regulations and employees could shift sponsors. Other governors may follow suit. However, the daily Arab News quoted a labour ministry spokesman as saying that he could neither confirm nor deny the decision.
The general view is that Saudi Arabia will continue to need immigrants for, as Rajan colourfully puts it, “jobs that are 3D -- dirty, demeaning and dangerous”. The real picture should emerge in a couple of weeks, particularly after the high-level delegation has held talks with the Saudi government.
DEPORTEES' TALE
Turn off the highway running through Pandikashala, a small village in Malappuram, and a narrow winding road will take you to Nitaqat. It is a poultry shop named in the bitter memory of the Saudi policy that sent two friends back to Kerala. Faisal Elamboorasari went to Saudi Arabia in 2006 and was working shifts in two supermarkets in Dammam, earning 2,000 riyals a month (1 Saudi riyal equals Rs 14 at current exchange rates). He was sent home last May when he failed to get his labour card renewed on grounds of non-compliance with employment regulations. The 35-year-old now earns his living selling chicken and by digging wells. His friend Nawaaz Karavaralkaad returned home in March. The 30-year-old had gone to Riyadh three years ago and worked in a boofiyah, a shop selling refreshments, earning 1,500 riyals a month. Three months ago, policemen in mufti checked the iqama of the employees and arrested 10 of the 22 workers, including Karavaralkaad, for holding invalid residency permits - their sponsor did now own the shop they were working in. After spending a week in jail, Karavaralkaad was issued a ticket to India. "I still haven't repaid the Rs 200,000 I borrowed to get the visa," says Karavaralkaad. Both the men are barred from returning to Saudi or any other Gulf Cooperation Council country for the next three years.
But Saudi dreams die hard. Despite having to fork out big sums to try and get their visas regularised even as wages for manual labour in Kerala skyrocket (digging a well can earn you Rs 700 a day, while a skilled mason would have Rs 1,000 in his pocket by the end of the day), Karavaralkaad and Elamboorasari say that given a chance, they will go back to Saudi Arabia to work again.
IN TRANSIT
- Number of emigrants from Kerala living abroad:
2.3 million - Emigrants from Kerala in Saudi Arabia:
574,000 - *Emigrants from Malappuram living abroad:
400,000 - Remittances to Kerala:
Rs 49,695 crore per annum - Remittances were 31 per cent of state domestic product
(All figures relate to 2011)
(*Total number, including those in Saudi Arabia)
Source: Report on Kerala Migration Survey 2011, S Irudaya Rajan & KC Zachariah