Dubai: Waiting to return

Meenal Dubey
New Delhi, November 28, 2009


Till not too long ago, Kerala was rejoicing over
' beating' the economic meltdown. But the Dubai
crisis has revived fears of mass reverse migration
 from the Gulf.

Alarm bells had started ringing over a year ago as
the slump had the world economy in a pincer grip and
there was panic in Kerala, the state from which the
maximum number of people go to the Gulf.

Doomsday prophets were proved wrong when the state
weathered the worst phase of Gulf recession.

Mass exodus from the Gulf also came to an end.

Now, however, the situation seems to be back to square one.

The ministry of overseas Indian affairs ( MOIA) is keeping
an eye on the situation and has predicted the departure of
lakhs of Indian workers back to the nation.

"We want to wait and see how the situation develops before we
take any drastic action," a senior MOIA official said.

There is nothing we can do at the moment to address the
situation." India has over five million overseas workers,
sourced mainly from Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Bihar and Punjab.

 About 2.5 lakh Indians head to Dubai each year for work.
At least eight lakh people head to the UAE each year,
making it the biggest recipient of Indian workers overseas.

"Many workers have returned from Dubai after their two- year
contract expired. They comprise about 30 per cent of the total
workers coming to India from Dubai," the official said. Besides,
hundreds of people have lost their jobs in the Gulf, especially Dubai.

But Gibbson, a Malayalee civil engineer who lost his job in a
Dubaibased MNC to recession earlier this year, is itching to
go back to the Gulf.

"Apart from Dubai, the situation is not bad elsewhere," he said.

Inputs from M. C. Rajan in Chennai 

source: India Today