Kerala's Saudi labour pains: New Saudi Arabian localisation policy threatens to send thousands of Indians home
It's an odd name for a chicken shop, but Mushtaq Mohammad has chosen to
call his tiny new establishment in Kerala's Pandikasala village
'Nitaqat', after a new Saudi Arabian localisation policy that cost him his job in the Gulf kingdom.
Mohammad, 28, is one of 500-odd immigrants from Kerala who have already been forced to return home over the last few months. Hundreds of thousands like him are expected to follow suit in the next few weeks. The Nitaqat policy, which makes it mandatory for any private sector Saudi employer to hire at least 10 per cent locals at a minimum monthly salary of 3,000 riyal (Rs.43,200) each, came into effect on March 29. Expats flouting its rules are being deemed illegal aliens who can be arrested and deported immediately.
For Kerala, a state that sends 574,000 workers to Saudi Arabia, and earns an estimated Rs.5 lakh crore from its 2.3 million expatriates, matters are fast reaching a flashpoint due to fears of a mass influx. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has asked people to not panic, and Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to allow him to lead a delegation to Riyadh to sort things out. Among the concessions being asked for is an extended amnesty of six months for immigrants from Kerala, given the numbers involved.
More than 1,000 expat workers from Kerala have reportedly been rounded
up by Saudi police in the first week after the deadline. Hundreds of
expatriate Indians are crowding the Indian embassy seeking 'Out Passes'
to leave the country. With inspections, raids and arrests rampant in
various urban centres of Saudi Arabia, thousands of expat workers have
stopped going to work altogether.
"We've not stepped out since March 29 even to buy essentials like water or food. We fear arrests and midnight knocks by the Saudi police," A. Shamir, 32, a driver from Kerala, told india today from the southern coastal town of Jizan. Several grocery shops, bakeries, and schools have shut down because of mass absenteeism. Business has fallen drastically in markets frequented by Indians. "There is a 30 per cent decline in revenues since the Nitaqat deadline passed," says E.P. Kuttikrishnan, originally from Malappuram, who runs a bakery at Kharg, near Riyadh. Malappuram, the state's only Muslim-dominated district which sends the largest number of workers to the Gulf and tops the remittance charts, is the worst affected.
All three international airports in Kerala are witnessing downcast
locals returning with their personal belongings. It's a far cry from the
past, when they would come back on vacation with gadgets and gold for
their families. "I was in Saudi Arabia for 14 years. Now I have been
forced to return," says K. Ashraf, a courier firm assistant who worked
in Jeddah. "With a monthly income of 2,000 riyals (about Rs.28,000),
I wasn't able to make any significant savings," says the 39-year-old
who returned to Tirur village in February with his wife and three
children.
Nitaqat classifies all private Saudi firms into four categories-Blue, Yellow, Green and Red-based on their size and the number of Saudi nationals they have recruited. Unemployment among locals has risen to 300,000, and according to Saudi media, approximately 340,000 firms, which did not employ a single Saudi national, got classified as Red in 2011. About 100,000 such firms complied with the law by replacing foreigners with Saudi nationals. But even at the end of the deadline, 240,000 firms, which employ approximately two million expats, remain in the Red zone. At least half of the immigrants from Kerala work in such companies.
"I was a legal worker with a proper visa. After Nitaqat, my Saudi sponsor increased our work permit renewal fee. I had to pay 1,500 riyals last year but that went up to 7,000 riyals. I couldn't afford it with a monthly salary of 2,000 riyals," says Abdu Manaf, 38, who was a supermarket assistant in Jeddah.
Saudi Arabia is the second most favoured destination for Kerala's
immigrants after UAE, particularly because it remained largely
unaffected by the global recession. "This is the beginning of the end of
Kerala's El Dorado," says P.T. Kunju Muhammed, filmmaker and president
of the Kerala Pravasi Sangh. Muhammed has directed films such as Magrib,
Gershome and Pardesi-all on the travails of the migrant.
Kerala accounts for the largest proportion of remittances to India, which is now the world's largest recipient at $70 billion (about Rs.3.7 lakh crore) in 2012. Remittances to Kerala alone crossed Rs.50,000 crore in 2012, according to a study by the Centre for Development Studies in Thiruvananthapuram. "There is still hope but things could get worse with massive retrenchment of foreign workers in most Gulf countries," says Chandy. The government's Non-Resident Keralite Affairs (NORKA) department has started a call centre and set up help desks at all three airports.
While a case is made for increasing employment opportunities in the state, there is an immediate problem at hand. "These Indian expat workers are not criminals," Vayalar Ravi said. "They need our support."
Source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/indians-return-home-from-saudi-arabia-gulf-kingdom/1/260849.html
Mohammad, 28, is one of 500-odd immigrants from Kerala who have already been forced to return home over the last few months. Hundreds of thousands like him are expected to follow suit in the next few weeks. The Nitaqat policy, which makes it mandatory for any private sector Saudi employer to hire at least 10 per cent locals at a minimum monthly salary of 3,000 riyal (Rs.43,200) each, came into effect on March 29. Expats flouting its rules are being deemed illegal aliens who can be arrested and deported immediately.
For Kerala, a state that sends 574,000 workers to Saudi Arabia, and earns an estimated Rs.5 lakh crore from its 2.3 million expatriates, matters are fast reaching a flashpoint due to fears of a mass influx. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has asked people to not panic, and Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to allow him to lead a delegation to Riyadh to sort things out. Among the concessions being asked for is an extended amnesty of six months for immigrants from Kerala, given the numbers involved.
More than 1,000 expat workers from Kerala have reportedly been rounded
up by Saudi police in the first week after the deadline. Hundreds of
expatriate Indians are crowding the Indian embassy seeking 'Out Passes'
to leave the country. With inspections, raids and arrests rampant in
various urban centres of Saudi Arabia, thousands of expat workers have
stopped going to work altogether."We've not stepped out since March 29 even to buy essentials like water or food. We fear arrests and midnight knocks by the Saudi police," A. Shamir, 32, a driver from Kerala, told india today from the southern coastal town of Jizan. Several grocery shops, bakeries, and schools have shut down because of mass absenteeism. Business has fallen drastically in markets frequented by Indians. "There is a 30 per cent decline in revenues since the Nitaqat deadline passed," says E.P. Kuttikrishnan, originally from Malappuram, who runs a bakery at Kharg, near Riyadh. Malappuram, the state's only Muslim-dominated district which sends the largest number of workers to the Gulf and tops the remittance charts, is the worst affected.
Nitaqat classifies all private Saudi firms into four categories-Blue, Yellow, Green and Red-based on their size and the number of Saudi nationals they have recruited. Unemployment among locals has risen to 300,000, and according to Saudi media, approximately 340,000 firms, which did not employ a single Saudi national, got classified as Red in 2011. About 100,000 such firms complied with the law by replacing foreigners with Saudi nationals. But even at the end of the deadline, 240,000 firms, which employ approximately two million expats, remain in the Red zone. At least half of the immigrants from Kerala work in such companies.
"I was a legal worker with a proper visa. After Nitaqat, my Saudi sponsor increased our work permit renewal fee. I had to pay 1,500 riyals last year but that went up to 7,000 riyals. I couldn't afford it with a monthly salary of 2,000 riyals," says Abdu Manaf, 38, who was a supermarket assistant in Jeddah.
Kerala accounts for the largest proportion of remittances to India, which is now the world's largest recipient at $70 billion (about Rs.3.7 lakh crore) in 2012. Remittances to Kerala alone crossed Rs.50,000 crore in 2012, according to a study by the Centre for Development Studies in Thiruvananthapuram. "There is still hope but things could get worse with massive retrenchment of foreign workers in most Gulf countries," says Chandy. The government's Non-Resident Keralite Affairs (NORKA) department has started a call centre and set up help desks at all three airports.
While a case is made for increasing employment opportunities in the state, there is an immediate problem at hand. "These Indian expat workers are not criminals," Vayalar Ravi said. "They need our support."
Source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/indians-return-home-from-saudi-arabia-gulf-kingdom/1/260849.html
