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Newspaper article

'More Indian women migrating to Gulf for jobs'

Date

2012-06-04

Authors

Moushumi Das Gupta

Newspaper title

Hindustantime

Publisher

Hindustantime

Place published

New Delhi, India

Full text

Compared to the 1990s, more Indian women are now migrating to the Gulf countries looking for better work opportunities and monetary benefits.

According to a first of its kind report on Migration of Women Workers from South Asia to the Gul jointly released by UN Women and the VV Giri National Labour Institute, in 2010 India sent the third largest number of female migrants (48.7%) to the Gulf after Nepal (68.2%) and Sri Lanka(49.8%). Among the Gulf countries, Saudi Arabia received the highest proportion of Indian migrant workers in 2010.

A majority of the unskilled women workers from India to Gulf go from Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.

Overall, women comprised half — 49.6% — of the 190 million migrant workers from South Asia. Most of these women migrate alone and work as domestic workers, the report said.

"The impact of the migration of women workers is much broader than its immediate economic aspect. There is great potential of such migration to bring forth the social and political empowerment of women, and reshape gender power relations," SK Sasikumar of VV Giri National Institute said.

According to a 2011 World Bank report, India was one of the largest recipients of remittances in the world accounting for $55 billion in 2010.

Though the increase in women migrant has a positive effect, the report said in the absence of proper information and gender sensitive migration policy, women migrants continue to be exploited.

"The kafala or a sponsorship system between the employer and employee is the mode of labour recruitment ... Work relationships in those countries are very individualised, and make women workers highly dependent on their employer, and thus often socially invisible," the report said.

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Keywords

India, women migrant workers

Economic sectors

Occupations in services - Domestic work, Home child care providers, and Home support workers, housekeepers and related occupations

Content types

Policy analysis and Support initiatives

Target groups

Policymakers, Public awareness, Researchers, and NGOs/community groups/solidarity networks

Geographical focuses

India

Spheres of activity

Social work and Demography

Languages

English