Going Abroad

 

 

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 ……