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Telugu Emigrants in the Gulf

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Abstract

The Indian labour migration to the Gulf countries gained momentum during the early 1970s as a result of the price hike of oil. The consequent earnings of large revenues from oil led to the process of industrialization and modernization in the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries characterized by massive investment in social and economic infrastructure. This development required the service of a large number of foreign workers, as the GCC countries could not provide the indigenous labour supplies. These foreign workers mostly came from South Asian countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka for working in construction sites and oil companies. However, in recent times, the situation has changed either because of huge competition among foreign labourers in the Gulf countries or because of Gulf economic crisis. As a result, the Gulf countries are not allowing free migration and instead charging huge visa fees from migrants; they have also become very selective. The present chapter attempts to study the reasons for migration of Indians to the Gulf countries with a case study of Telugu migrants from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states. The chapter further examines in detail the push and pulls factors for migration, migrant networks, social conditions of migrants and the socioeconomic impact of the Gulf migration on the migrants and their left-behind families.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    According to Leonard (2005) the historical ties between South Asia and some of the Gulf States even goes back to eighteenth century.

  2. 2.

    In October 2016, Telangana state divided 10 districts into 31 districts. (Karimnagar—Jagatiyal, Rajanna-Siricilla, Peddapalli), (Nizamabad—Kamareddy), (Adilabad—Komarambheem, Mancherial, Nirmal), (Medak—Siddipet, Sangareddy). These districts are the major Gulf migrant sending areas in Telangana.

  3. 3.

    As Brusle (2009–2010: 4) pointed out, the conditions of labourers’ camps “greatly depend on the willingness of their employer to provide them with proper conditions. If the employer is not of a large company, workers share rooms in some derelict buildings in the centre far from the town”.

  4. 4.

    An Arabic word commonly used in the Middle East.

  5. 5.

    Shah (2008: 6–7) defined an irregular or illegal migrant in the GCC countries as: (1) a person may enter the country illegally (either without required documents or with fictitious documents), (2) the person may become illegal through overstaying after the contract is over and the legal residence period has expired, and (3) when a migrant worker takes up employment for a person other than the sponsor.

  6. 6.

    Although in many cases it was found that the immigrants continue to stay in the Gulf and keep sending remittances to their families to keep them economically well-off over generations (see Ali 2011; Gardner 2011; Vora 2011).

  7. 7.

    The recent crises in Dubai economy, for instance, affected the construction sector directly. Since most of the construction companies ceased their work, it resulted in the forceful leaving of all temporary workers.

  8. 8.

    India’s economy has grown rapidly with a growth rate of 7 to 9 per cent during post-liberalization and post-financial crisis period. Unfortunately, the growth has been uneven during last two decades across states. Though it had multiplied incomes, it caused increasing insecurity, particularly among low-income groups in rural areas (Sahu 2011).

  9. 9.

    Social factors like the issue of “prestige” involved in migrating to a foreign country, this has influenced many migrants from the village to go abroad (see Ali 2007).

  10. 10.

    The UAE government announced amnesty programme from 1 August 2018 to 31 October 2018, for visa violators, overstaying job seekers, those who entered the country illegally and illegal residents in the UAE.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology & Centre for Study of Indian Diaspora, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India

    Trilok Chandan Goud & Ajaya Kumar Sahoo

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  1. Trilok Chandan Goud
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  2. Ajaya Kumar Sahoo
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Development Studies, Ulloor Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

    S. Irudaya Rajan

  2. Department of Population Studies, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

    Prem Saxena

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Goud, T.C., Sahoo, A.K. (2019). Telugu Emigrants in the Gulf. In: Rajan, S.I., Saxena, P. (eds) India’s Low-Skilled Migration to the Middle East. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-9224-5_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-9224-5_12

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