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The Malayalee's El Dorado recedes

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

Restrictions being imposed by various Gulf countries on new visas to job seekers have caused alarm in Kerala, which has a large army of unemployed youth who consider a job in the region a permanent passport to a golden future.

The official confirmation of a freeze on visas for unskilled workers from India and Pakistan by the United Arab Emirates government has triggered a panic among jobseekers and those in the recruiting business. The UAE has been one of the major job markets for both skilled and unskilled workers in the state following the tightening of immigration laws by other Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia.

Moreover, UAE has been the most favoured destination of the unemployed in Kerala because of the high salary, better labour practices and liberal living conditions. Hundreds of applications for visas to UAE have been turned down since unofficial reports about restrictions appeared in the media. Interestingly, several professional hands also were denied visas due to the confusion caused by these reports.

According to Kerala Association of Travel Agents president K V Muralidharan, applications for visas for a batch of 50 skilled and professional hands were rejected in July. The recruiting agents fear that the distinction shown between labourers from India and other labour supplying countries might affect even the flow of skilled workers.

They feel that failure by the central government to nurture good relations with the Gulf countries has been largely responsible for the discrimination against India. Vivek, managing director of the Kiwi International, a recruiting agency here, said that the restrictions were not necessitated by the decline in job opportunities alone. India could have averted the situation if the concerned ministries had maintained cordial relations with the UAE government, he added.

Vivek told rediff. com, "it is a pity that even our foreign missions have failed to remove the adverse perceptions some of the Gulf countries have on Indian labourers," he added. The restrictions on new visas have come at a time when the state is witnessing large-scale return of emigrant workers due to various reasons. The return influx has been substantial since 1996.

According to a study conducted by Dr K C Zachariah of the Centre for Development Studies, the total number of migrants who have returned to Kerala is 300,000 in the last three years. The study puts the number of returnees in 1996 at 107,000, 127,000 in 1997 and 79,000 in 1998. Various experts, who have studied the phenomenon, say that this is bound to swell in the coming years.

The major reason attributed for shrinkage in job opportunities in the Gulf is the prevailing recessionary trend in the Gulf economy due to the fall in oil prices and the crisis in South-East Asian economies. Besides, there is stiff competition from other labour supplying countries.

The trend might create an alarming situation in Kerala, which is highly dependent on remittances from the Gulf for sustaining its economy already hit hard by the recession in the industrial and agriculture segments. Dr B A Prakash of the economics department of Calicut University attributes the current economic crisis in the state to the dwindling remittances from the Non-Resident Indians.

According to Dr Prakash, the large-scale return of emigrants from UAE in 1996 and Saudi Arabia in 1997 have applied a break on the economic activities in seven districts. The construction sector was the most affected. The impact has been sharp on speculative business activities like stock, real estate and, the hitherto ubiquitous, private financing firms known as "blade companies."

The Kerala government, which has a separate department for non-resident Keralites' affairs, is concerned about the situation. The department is toying with the idea of upgrading the skills of the state's work force in order to compete with the work force from other countries.

The department is in touch with various Indian embassies to have an idea of the changing occupational pattern in the region to make necessary corrections in the supply side. The government intends to upgrade the skills of the existing unemployed and those returning from the Gulf countries. The second category has good prospects to find jobs since they are already accustomed with the conditions in the region. However, it is an uphill task since 45 to 55 percent of the labour force from Kerala in the Gulf is unskilled.

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