Recently, a devastating fire broke out in an apartment building near Kuwait City, at least 49 people, around 40 of them Indians died.

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• The recent case of deaths in a fire in Kuwait has once again brought attention to the lack of safety and deplorable living conditions of Indian migrants in Gulf Countries.

Indian Migrants in Gulf Countries

• The Ministry of External Affairs stated that about 8.88 million NRIs live in six Gulf nations.
  • A ‘Non-resident Indian’ (NRI) is a person resident outside India who is a citizen of India
• These six states are home to roughly 35 million migrant workers, accounting for 10% of all international migrants, and Indians constitute the single largest group amongst them.

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• Inward Remittances: Of the total foreign inward remittances, 28.6% originated from the Gulf countries, with Kuwait alone accounting for 2.4% of these remittances.
• State-wise Trend of Migrating Workforce: Kerala Migration Survey (KMS) 2023 estimated the number of emigrants from Kerala to be 2.2 million, slightly more than the 2.1 million recorded in 2018. 
  • But the number of emigrants to return home has also gone up, from 1.2 million in 2018 to 1.8 million in 2023. 
  • More Women Migrating: Women are another category of emigrants who have seen a rise in their numbers and proportion, up from 15.8% in 2018 to 19.1% in 2023.

What are the challenges faced by the Indian workers in Gulf countries?

1. Kafala System: It ties a migrant worker’s legal status to a specific employer or sponsor, known as a kafeel, for the duration of their contract. This means that the worker’s ability to enter, stay, and leave the country is controlled by the kafeel.
   • This creates a misery to workers who face  issues like confiscation of passports, difficulty changing jobs and exploitation and abuse by their employer. 
   • Critics sometimes refer it to “Modern Day Slavery”
2. Inhuman Living Conditions: Crowded, unsafe and unhygienic labour accommodation that makes its residents most vulnerable to any exigencies that may arise in a country.
   • Kuwait had some of the most discriminatory lockdown practices, particularly in areas densely populated by migrant workers such as Jleeb, Mahboula, and Hasawiya and announced an amnesty, deporting tens of thousands of workers at the height of the pandemic in April 2020
3. Recruitment Malpractices: Most host countries require employers to pay recruitment fees, these often get passed on to workers, who take out loans to pay them or become indebted to the recruiter.
4. High Dependency On Employer: Workers’ employment and residency visas are linked and only sponsors can renew or terminate them, the system endows private citizens—rather than the state—with control over workers’ legal statuses, creating a power imbalance that sponsors can exploit.
5. Forced Labour: In most situations, workers need their sponsor’s permission to transfer jobs, end employment, and enter or exit the host country. 
   • Leaving the workplace without permission is an offense that results in the termination of the worker’s legal status and potentially imprisonment or deportation, even if the worker is fleeing abuse. 
6. Lack of Data and Invisibilization of Migrants-There is a lack of data on migrants, both at their origin and destination countries which acts as a major challenge in addressing their issues. 
   • For example– In Qatar, the lack of clarity and uniformity in data from different agencies made migrant workers, especially those in low-wage jobs, less visible.
7. Issues regarding salaries: Return Migration Survey conducted among 2,000 Vande Bharat returnees to Kerala revealed that among 
   • 47% who lost their jobs
   • 39% have reported non-payment of wages and reduction in wages
8. Hazardous Working Conditions: The majority of these migrants work in the unorganised sector, such as construction sites and factories, where they often face dangerous working conditions. 

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Measures Taken by the Indian Government to Protect its Migrant Workers

• Emigration Act of 1983:
  • It provides the legal framework to regulate emigration of Indian workers.
  • It mandates recruitment agencies to register and follow regulations on emigration procedures.
• Minimum Referral Wages (MRW): For emigration clearance out of India, MRWs prescribe the least wage acceptable to the Indian government. 
  • It ensures migrant workers from India receive a minimum salary in certain countries. 
  • This prevents them from being exploited by employers offering much lower wages than the norm.
• E-Migrate: To regulate overseas employment especially for protection of less educated blue collar workers, the Emigration Check Required process is regulated through a unique computerised system called “e-Migrate”. 
• Memoranda of Understanding: India has signed Memoranda of Understanding with almost all of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries on mobility and migration. 
• Pre-Departure Orientation Programs (PDOS):  This programme is aimed at enhancing soft skills of potential Indian migrant workers largely going to the Gulf region and other specified nations, in terms of culture, language, tradition and local rules and regulations of the destination country.
• Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana (PBBY): This is a mandatory insurance scheme that provides life and disability cover to all Emigration Check Required (ECR) category Indian migrant workers going abroad for employment.

Measures Needed to Protect Migrant Workers

1. Kuwait Tragedy Underscores Need For New Emigration Law
   • Emigration Act lacks standardised Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for assisting Indians in foreign countries.
     • For example – During Covid – When there was migrant salary issue with gulf countries, the Indian government lacked an effective mechanism to recover their unpaid wages or end-of-service benefits, amounting to lakhs of rupees for many. 
     • Meanwhile, smaller out-migrant countries such as the Philippines actively fought against such wage theft.
   • Another reason why an updated Emigration Act is necessary : The Indian government under ​​Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana (PBBY) provides insurance coverage of ₹10 lakh in case of accidental death or permanent disability, along with other benefits, for Indians migrating for employment. 
     • Problem in the existing Emigration Act: It provides for two categories of passports, Emigration Clearance Required (ECR) and Emigration Clearance Not Required (ECNR).
     • Passports held by under-matriculate workers are of the ECR category. 
       • Such workers must use the eMigrate system and are obligated to subscribe to the insurance scheme if they wish to migrate to the aforementioned 18 countries.
   • Lacks a Human Rights Frameworkin existing Emigration Law: The bill is criticised to be lacking a human rights framework aimed at securing the rights of migrants and their families.
2. Few Structural Changes related to  Recruitment, Sponsorship system, employment visa etc. to ensure rights of migrant workers
   • Recruitment: Recruitment  process must be reformed; formalised and monitored to ensure protection of the rights and welfare of migrant workers.
   • Sponsorship system: Its flaws must be addressed: Discontinue the individual sponsorship system and replace it with the National Employment Office or Ministry of Labour (MOL) in the destination country overseeing the recruitment process. 
   • Visa Issue: An employment visa, rather than the sponsor, should regulate the migrant workers’ entry to the destination country. 
     • The employment based visa would allow workers the right to resign within one month notice
   • The migrant worker must be in possession of her passport, travel documents and mobile phone at all times. 
   • Introduce a monitoring system to oversee the interim work permits and shelter allocations, and to supervise the progress of the dispute cases.
3. Countries of origin and destination should ratify and implement key ILO conventions: 
   • C97 on Migration for Employment and Recommendation (Revised), 1949;
   • C143 Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions), 1975; 
   • C181 on Private Employment Agencies, 1997 ; 
   • C189 concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers, 2011

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Conclusion

• Yet, India has not yet been fully successful in tapping the potential of being one of the strongest migrant-sending countries to ensure the well-being of its people in the destination country. 
• It is high time that India is known as the country with the most efficient infrastructure for ensuring safe migration and life at the destination for migrants, not just the highest migrant-sending country that receives the most remittances.