Lost in migration: 'Working abroad is not what it is cracked up to be'

For Bhindu Bhupinder, a resident of Ferozepur in Punjab, the idea of working in another country evokes memories that are hard to forget.

Bhupinder went to Southall in the UK in 2018 to look for work. Initially, he was on a tourist visa but later got it extended. He stayed with friends, one of whom was Balbir. “Though he was not a friend, you tend to grow close when you stay together,” Bhupinder says.

Balbir was younger to Bhupinder and the others in the group. He also seemed quieter, perhaps troubled by his inability to find work. Eventually, he died by suicide.

“One day we came back home and were preparing to sleep when someone came and told us Balbir had jumped in front of the tube (the city train in London). I was shocked, and realised the idea of working abroad was not worth the risk,” adds Bhupinder as he fights back his tears.

Balbir’s family stays in Kapurthala, 20 km from Jalandhar. His grandmother, all alone in the house, says the family knew things were not going well, but no one thought Balbir would take such a drastic step.

“He went after his father passed away during the second Covid wave. He thought he would set up a business there and call all of us over. He tried multiple things, including applying for jobs. He would get money, but not the amount he expected. We do not know what forced him to take this step though. He could have just come back,” says the grandmother.

Bhupinder came back in 2021.

Employment abroad has become a sticky point for many, with the cost of living skyrocketing in countries such as Canada, a favoured destination of Indians, and Australia curbing visas for unskilled labour amid a housing crisis that has pushed rents to record levels.

This is pushing those seeking work abroad to take greater risks. A recent Reuters report said thousands of men queued up in Haryana during a recruitment drive to send workers to Israel, where the war in Gaza, which started after a Hamas attack on October 7, has created a shortage of labour. Masons, painters, electricians, plumbers and some farmers said they were looking for jobs in Israel. Some are willing to go into a conflict zone because they could make five times more money than they would at home.

NOT-SO-GREEN PASTURES

For Satpal Singh, the idea of moving to Canada was tempting. He had a small transport business in Ludhiana, helping farmers carry their produce from the farms to faraway mandis. After he heard that his former employer had moved to Canada, he mulled treading the same path. Little did he know he would end up losing his home to fulfil that dream, that too unsuccessfully.

Reminiscing about the time he decided to give his “Canada dream” a shot, Singh says his mother was against the decision from the beginning. “She said I was being greedy. I thought she was being orthodox. You cannot blame someone for looking at better opportunities,” he says.

Singh got in touch with his former boss. The whole process was quite expensive. He raised nearly Rs 30 lakh after mortgaging his house and selling all his vehicles. He also used up most of his savings. His former boss had told him he could earn twice the amount he was making in Ludhiana.

“He was not lying. What I did not expect are the conditions,” says Singh.

His job in Canada was to drive from Ontario to Waterloo. It is a two-hour drive. He would transport furniture from a factory to a hub. He was promised over Rs 2 lakh a month for the job.

The real issues popped up when he actually started working.

“In one such instance, I had to make a delivery during a heavy snowfall. The two-hour drive took nearly four hours, since I am not used to driving in snow. I made two trips in a day. The whole week I worked for nearly 16 hours a day,” he recalls.

More importantly, if the products got damaged, it was taken out of his salary, in a manner he says was disproportionate to the actual damage.

NOT THE BEST OF STAYS

For Sartaj, a 25-year-old student from Jalandhar, moving to Canada was not what he wanted; his parents made him go. They were worried he would get sucked into the menace of drugs if he stayed.

“It is not that prevalent in this part, and none of my friends do it, but I cannot blame my parents. I took their advice and moved to Canada. But staying there is the biggest hurdle, even for someone with my financial backing,” he says.

He went to Canada in 2022 to study economics. He rented a room that cost him Canadian dollar (CAD) 1,000 a month. He also took up a part-time job.

“My father used to send me money. My friends and I took up odd jobs as well. Despite that, nearly 40 per cent of our monthly income went just on rent. You would imagine that such a high rent would guarantee a good stay. But all I could afford was a basement. Now I want to get done with this as soon as possible and find a job in Delhi,” says Sartaj, who is on a visit home for vacations.

Nirmal Kaur was 24 when she visited Barcelona, Spain, for the first time with her parents. At the end of the trip, she was so mesmerised she decided to move there for further studies. Little did she know staying in Spain would be different from a visit as a tourist.

Kaur enrolled in the University of Malaga. Before going, she had read up about the average rent and the cost of living in the city. Convinced that she would be able to make ends meet, with a part-time job and help from her father, she went ahead and moved to the city. Until reality, or realty, hit her.

“I was shocked that the average expense per month was nearly €430 (mainly driven by mortgage or rent) more than what I had initially budgeted. That is over €5,000 extra per month. I had to cut down on a lot of things. Food and leisure aside, I had to keep a tab on the number of times I visited a doctor. I started treating myself for serious problems as well because I was not able to even afford a checkup by a dentist. I also had to cut down on my health insurance policy,” she says.

HOMECOMING

The road leading up to the Gurusar Sudhar village in Ludhiana district is unlike others in the neighbouring areas. The road, which looks to have been developed during the G20 Summit, was made by Lacchatar Singh, a non-resident Indian who had returned from the United States.

“Maybe this was his mentality. He wanted to make this village look like a city. Till the time he was here, he made sure he did as much as possible for the people of this village. He had a dream of making his village look like California,” says Kirtar Singh, Lacchatar’s younger brother.

Lacchatar Singh passed away in 2020.

For Jalandhar village sarpanch Harjinder Singh Raja, it was a Swades-like epiphany that made him return to India. After spending 10 years in England, the rising number of drug addicts and the resulting lawlessness made him return home. He has constructed village roads and has also set up a sports stadium and a gym.

These people hold beacons of hope for the others. Satpal Singh, despite his hardships, continues to harbour the dream of moving back to Canada.

“I was hoping to get married this year, but it seems like I have to postpone it as I barely have enough. Once everything is settled, I want to give Canada another shot. If not me, I would want my kids to move there,” he says.

It is not going to be easy though.

Canada has raised the minimum cost of living to CAD 20,655 (the amount a student must have in his bank account before reaching Canada) — more than double of what it was till last year.