In this part
of the world we very often happen to see local posters asking for “urgent
requirement” plumbers/masons/electricians/drivers to work
abroad - abroad meaning in general the
various places of UAE, Malaysia and if the person is lucky Singapore . These
posters are generally by agents who work with some entity on the other side ,
taking commission from both sides. Sometimes they are by someone posing as
agents , taking a substantial amount of money from the aspiring candidates and then the success
of the endeavour or not is left to the fate of the candidate(s).
This dream
to go and work abroad is watered by the lifestyle change of the families of
someone who has managed to go abroad and stabilize there. Normally they borrow
for interest to pay the agent, mostly by pledging the land they own. In a few
years, the loan is repaid in full with the “foreign salary” , control of land taken back by the family here
and agriculture resumes once again. The
next couple of years, a house of concrete often with ground floor and
first floor (maadi veedu) is built. When many surrounding houses have tile
roofs, a concrete cement house with maadi is definitely a status symbol. And
when the person visits home once in a two or three years, they normally bring
back 5-6 sovereigns in jewels, which immediately becomes the talk of the
neighbours. In addition, there are several families ready to give their
daughters in marriage to these boys and the boys family have the opportunity to
make a choice among these .
(After the
marriage, they come for a month once every two years for a long long time is a
different story. They rarely get to touch and feel their children when the
children grow up. Atleast they can now see the family thanks to technology)
No wonder
all youngsters in these areas like to ‘go abroad’ to work
These above are
the lucky ones. As in all cases there is another side to the coin – the unlucky
set.
Some of
these boys are sent back from the local airport due to some missing
paperwork. Now that the money is with
the agent and the agent is not going to return it anyday – they have to keep
visiting and asking for the money to be returned. The agents are more
experienced in this and they keep telling some never ending story. In worse cases, the boy reaches the foreign
country – say Malaysia – with a tourist visa. This being the first of so many
things – the flight, the airport, the security etc they are not savvy enough to
answer the officer at the immigration and donot have the right paperwork with them
.They are detained at the airport for a
couple of days, badly treated and are sent back from the airport. Same pattern
with the agents – a story everytime .
In addition
to avoid the humiliating looks of the neighbours, the boys in some cases stay
holed up inside the house for a month or so , till they are ready to face the
world.
In both
cases , the toll on the psyche is very strong in addition to the heavy financial burden . They start paying in
small amounts , the interest accumulates with the principal and sometimes the
loan term runs for even a decade or so.
Some have
even paid the agent again and tried again immediately , ignorant of the fact their
passport has the last visit’s information and they will be scrutinized more in
the second time . Most of the time they
are deported the second time too and are burdened with the second loan also now
There are
others who have gone to a few of the UAE countries, being assigned work like
rearing camels in the middle of the desert or some such work . Not being to
tolerate the harsh treatment , new environment, different inadequate food etc have managed
somehow to get back home .
This “going
abroad” has such a wide spectrum and when one gets into that , no amount of
reasoning can get them out of it – until they experience the success or failure
by themselves .
Sending all
positive vibes to all these aspirants ……
