Issues and Challenges of the Indian Migrants in Gulf Countries

Naresh Sudhaveni , Centre for Economic and Social Studies

Migrants and remittances play an important role in the economic development of both origin and destination countries. Migrants are potential “agents of development” in origin countries. Migration and development are interrelated and highly interdependent processes. Migrants not only transfer remittances to their home countries but also reinvestment of human and financial capital in their countries of origin. Further, they also improve the income, health, and education of their families. The brain drain is being perceived as brain gain. Around 8 million migrants from India are working in the Gulf region in different sectors and are playing a significant role in the growth and development of the country. Changing demographics and economic factors at home and abroad have significantly influenced the migration pattern. There seems to be demand for both low-skilled and semi-skilled labor in the Gulf due to the fast-growing infrastructure development and low-population in the country. The ongoing migration trend in India is leading to an increase in the standard of living by virtue of the remittance of the migrants. However, there are some issues and problems in migration which posed a challenge to the government like exploitation of employers, withholding of passports, and inadequate living and working conditions. The main challenges are illegal migration and implementation of indigenization policies including labor reforms in the gulf. In this context, the present paper proposes is to examine the recent pattern and trends in Indian migration to gulf. Both primary and secondary sources for data/information will be used for the study.

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 Presented in Session P3. Poster Session Migration, Economics, Environment, Methods, History and Policy