Migration and reverse migration: Gulf-Malayalees’ perceptions during the Covid-19 pandemic

Menon, Devaki Vadakepat; Vadakepat, Vanaja Menon

doi:10.1080/19438192.2020.1820668

Cited by 28 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 27 publications

(29 reference statements)

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“…Menon, D. V., & Vadakepat, V. M., reviews Indian expatriates' attributes and values during emigration. Furthermore, it compares with Indian emigrants' perceptions during the sudden outbreak of Covid-19, which played a role in related reverse migration from the United Arab Emirates (31). The wide-ranging impact of COVID-19 on the life of incomes and livelihoods of migrants worldwide will take some time to become unfold, and it is already clear that those in mineral jobs, mostly low-wage, occupations are among the worst-hit workers(32).…”

Section: Covid-19 and Indian Migrants In The Gulfmentioning

confidence: 99%

Covid-19 and Psychological Well-being among Indian Expatriates in Saudi Arabia

Fazli

Faridi

2022

Preprint

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The current study delves into the impact of Covid-19 on the psychological well-being of diverse ages, gender, and income groups of Indian expatriates in Saudi Arabia. Psychological well-being is measured by Dr Martin Seligman's theory of well-being called PERMA (Positive emotions; Engagement; Relationships; Meaning; and Accomplishments). Age, gender, and income are used as independent variables. Positive emotions, engagement; relationships; purposeful existence; and accomplishment are dependent variables additional filler variables are health, negative emotions, loneliness, and happiness.As per the demand of the study, some changes are made in the questionnaire to get responses aimed at before and post COVID-19 outbreak scenarios. The online survey was administered during April-July 2021 to collect the data. The study focuses on the perceived psychological well-being of affluent Indian expatriates(n=62) living in Saudi Arabia during the pandemic. The marks of COVID-19 can be seen across all genders, ages, and income groups of Indians living in Saudi Arabia, but impressions of perceived well-being are profound on women, people of 51+ age, and high-income groups.

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Section: Covid-19 and Indian Migrants In The Gulfmentioning

confidence: 99%

Covid-19 and Psychological Well-being among Indian Expatriates in Saudi Arabia

Fazli

Faridi

2022

Preprint

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“…According to the state government data, over 90,000 have so far been evacuated' (Babu, 2020). Indian journalists and scholars identify this movement as a reverse migration (Premkumar, 2020;Menon & Vadakepat, 2020). Moreover, a half-million internal migrants literally walked to back to their home villages to survive as they lost daily earnings in the large cities.…”

Section: The Pandemic's Impact On the Acceleration Of Returnsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accordingly, lockdown measures prevented many labour migrants from earning a living due to the business shutdowns, wage cuts, outstanding back pay, paused or cancelled employment contracts, being placed on paid or unpaid leave, and asked to vacate their accommodations (Babu, 2020;Kuttappan, 2020). The pandemic reduced possibilities of finding new jobs not only due to the consequences of Covid-19 on the national economies but also because of governments' greater focus on prioritising the employment of own nationals to protect them in the shrinking labour market (Menon & Vadakepat, 2020). From the policymakers' perspective, 'the common assumption is that labour migration is a temporary feature which in the event of an economic crisis can be simply "turned off," mitigating the effect on the national population and institutions' (Chang, 2014, 93).…”

Section: Reasons Of Returnmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the impact of Covid-19 on return decisions was more detrimental for temporary migrant workers and irregular/undocumented migrants, highly-skilled migrants were also influenced by the pandemic into reconsidering their return plans. The imminent danger of 'job loss' or a 'lack of permanent residency' in the host countries led migrants to feel insecure (Menon & Vadakepat, 2020). Anecdotal pieces of evidence from social media posts of immigrant groups illustrate that the highly-skilled migrants, such as engineers and those working in the multinational companies abroad, became the first candidates for layoffs in companies' downsizing, meaning the return of some to their countries of origin sooner or later.…”

Section: Reasons Of Returnmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Voluntary and Forced Return Migration Under a Pandemic Crisis

Mencütek

2021

IMISCOE Research Series

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The Covid-19 pandemic has an impact on migrants’ return desires and actual returns across the globe. Border closures in the face of pandemic lead to the panic mobility of those returning home. The ensuing lockdowns and economic difficulties restricted migrant workers’ access to income and protection, pushing them to return. The pandemic brought evident risks for the regular migrants’ access to healthcare, financial security, and social protection, forcing them to consider the return option too. For irregular migrants, the pandemic further increased the risk of forced returns, including detention, deportation, and pushbacks. For all migrants, decisions are marked by a deep dilemma between staying and returning. Meanwhile, receiving, sending, and transit countries, as well as international organisations are involved in return processes by providing logistics, on the one hand, and stigmatising returnees as carriers of virus, on the other. This study is based on desk research and analysis of the scholarly literature, reports, and grey literature from international organizations, civil society reports, scientific blogs, and media reports. An emphasis on returns provides us broader insights to evaluate changing characteristics of migration and mobility in ‘pandemic times’, the governance of returns, its consequences, and the rhetoric about returnees.

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“…68 Indian migrant workers helped the economy of both the host country and home country. 69 Asian Development Bank predicted that the remittances could fall up to 23.5 per cent for India in 2020. 70 Apart from the state authority's concern, the workers are also anxious about their 'future'.…”

Section: The Pandemicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indian workers in Dubai: City, Fear and Belongingness

Ray¹

2020

Salesian Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

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Even though the pandemic is portrayed in the popular narrative as a collective experience of humankind, it affected different sections of people of different spectrums indifferent ways across the world. The workers from India and other south Asian countries are living in the megacities like Dubai in the Gulf region for generations. The outbreak of the pandemic suddenly shuttered the economic arrangement of the workers carefully designed by the host and home countries over the decades. The article has mainly focused on two contradictory human experience-belongingness and fear in the context of Indian workers working in Dubai during the pandemic. In this particular time, the eagerness for 'going back home' was driven by these two seemingly contradictory human emotions. The focus is entirely on Dubai-which is considered by many Indians as an extended part of India. The article points out that the pandemic magnified certain aspects of the workers working in Dubai that often remain invisible in the popular public domain. The pandemic suddenly exposed the vulnerability of the workers living in foreign cities. There are chances that the pandemic experience will have a long-lasting impact on the life of the workers and the whole economic and political arrangement of the city like Dubai.

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Migration and reverse migration: Gulf-Malayalees’ perceptions during the Covid-19 pandemic

Cited by 28 publications

References 27 publications

Covid-19 and Psychological Well-being among Indian Expatriates in Saudi Arabia

Covid-19 and Psychological Well-being among Indian Expatriates in Saudi Arabia

Voluntary and Forced Return Migration Under a Pandemic Crisis

Indian workers in Dubai: City, Fear and Belongingness

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