“The lockdown made me jobless for the past several days, so I am using the money which I was supposed to send to my family back home for their expenses, now I am worried how my family will meet their daily needs without my remittances” an Indian taxi driver in Kuwait explains to us during an interview. We don’t know exactly how many Indians in the Gulf countries face a similar situation, but thousands of migrants are running out of money and are uncertain about their future.
The pandemic halted not only migration in the populous India-Gulf migration corridor, but also the businesses in this region. This situation created short and long-term repercussions among Indian migrants in Gulf countries. Large numbers of Indians (estimated to be between 8 and 10 million) in the Persian Gulf region are employed in low profile jobs in construction sectors, restaurants, drivers, small enterprises, service sectors and domestic services.
Kerala alone accounts for 2.1 million migrants living in six countries in the Gulf (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait) according to the latest Kerala Migration Survey 2018 conducted by the Centre for Development Studies. Most of them need to step out daily to earn their living. These daily wage workers are often provided either with free accommodation or allowances for their accommodation and food. Besides, these workers try to increase their monthly income by doing over-time. Lockdowns have forced them to remain out of the workforce with no income. This has a financial impact not only on the migrants in the Gulf but also the millions of their family members in India who depend on the money sent by these migrants. During 2018, India has received close to USD 80 billion as remittances according to the World Bank.
