There is a joke that you can see a “Malayali-tea shop on the moon/mt.everest”.Even if it is just a joke it has some elements of truth in it in the sense that you could meet atleast one ‘mallu’ wherever you go. Keralities are said to be very much mobile in nature compared to any other section of people in the world.
But the present question is that has their inclination to migrate showing a downward trend? If the findings of the Migration Monitoring Studies (MMS) for 2007 conducted by the Research Unit on International Migration of the Centre for Development is to be believed then the migration tendency of Keralites is showing a downward trend and it has remained almost stationery at 27.3 lakh since 2003.
The number of Non resident Keralites per hundred households dropped from 39.7 to 36.2 during the same period while in over 75% of Kerala households there is not even a single member abroad. The study, observes that, “the era of large-scale emigration from the State seems to be largely over.” Mobility in Kerala has become immobile and international migration from Kerala has remained absolutely stationary during the 2003-07 period.
The reasons attributed to this change in the immigration pattern are the opening up of the employment opportunities in the private sector and a booming economy among others. The job scenario in the gulf region slowly lost its charm due to the stringent rules and regulations that gave preference to local job aspirants. The volatile situation in Iraq after ousting the Saddam regime is also pointed out as another reason for this downward plunge.
Today, more persons are coming to the state than are going out. Contrary to the common wisdom,unemployment has declined by a whooping 40 percent during the period. Interestingly, employment has increased by over 3 lakh persons, with a 100 percent increase in the private sector and 20 percent increase in self-employment. Remittances to the state have a consistent increase of 33 percent during 2003-07 and it formed about 20 percent of the state’s NSDP and 30 percent more than the state’s annual revenue receipts.
Another interesting finding is that the northern districts of Kerala are gaining importance as areas of emigration. As years pass by, more Kerala emigrants emanate from Malappuram, Kannur and Kasaragod districts. In Malappuram, 71 percent of the households have either an emigrant or a return emigrant each.
United Arab Emirates is dethroning Saudi Arabia as the preferred destination of Malayali emigrants bound for the Gulf. Many observers believe that the stringent Shariat laws and restriction on females have had a big role in the downslide of the popularity of Saudi Arabia as a haven for immigrants.Countries beyond the Middle East such as the US and the UK have also been receiving increasing numbers of emigrants.
Nearly half of the emigrants were Muslims. Among the Muslims, 3 out of every 4 households (74 percent) have an NRK each, but among Hindus less than 1 in 5 households (22 percent) only have an NRK each.
Anyway the era of substantial immigration trend seems to have vanished from the state of Kerala, once famous for its sprawling ‘gulf pockets”, which was the main driving force of the economy of this state. Whatever be the reasons for this change in the migratory pattern, it is sure this phenomenon would enliven the timeless adage of “home sweet home”!