In the over 40 years since the advent of the ‘Gulf dream’ in north Telangana districts, lucrative employment in Persian Gulf countries remains just that – a dream for the migrating poor. Lakhs of poor and gullible migrants from the districts of Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Medak and Warangal end up losing all they possessed, even lives in some cases, in their endeavour to earn ‘more’ money to give a ‘better’ life to their family.
Crises among overseas workers, especially related to their status as migrant workers in countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq etc., keep surfacing with exasperating regularity, posing a challenge to the governments of the day. Cheated by unscrupulous travel agents, the effort of the hapless migrant workers is channelised towards earning the mercy of foreign and Indian governments instead of earning money.
“I was promised work on a construction site with a pay of 800 Riyals but I had to work as a shepherd, the pay being only 400 Riyals,” recalls Kukkala Butchanna, as he talks of one of the most common problems faced by migrants. He was among the first wave of Gulf migrants from Adilabad district, hailing from Beernandi village in Khanapur mandal, and considers himself lucky to have gotten back home safely from Al Goya.
“Much worse is the problem created by the ‘Azad’ visa as a large number of migrants end up on the wrong side of law after failing to land proper jobs,” interrupts Shaik Chand Pasha, the president of Jagtial-based NGO Gulf Returning Members Welfare Society. “I was in jail for four months before being assisted by the Indian Embassy in returning home,” remembers Pitla Ravi of Parimandal in Mamda mandal, one of the victims of the ‘Azad’ visa concept.
The agents sell the ‘Azad’ visa for as high a price as Rs. 2 lakh, which enables the purchaser to stay in a given country for two years during which time, he can search for employment. “In fact, the government should do away with the agent system to protect the interests of these poor workers who sell everything to migrate,” suggests Kotipati Narasimham Naidu, president of the Migrants Rights and Welfare Forum based in Armoor of Nizamabad district who, like Chand Pasha, comes to the rescue of hapless victims.
