No let-up in migration from Bihar to Middle East despite IS terror
Theysay
Barely three days after he cremated the remains of his elderbrother, SushilKumar,27, a resident of Mauja Tandwa village in Bihar’s Siwan district, received a call from an overseas placement agency.
“Your visa for a job in Iraq has been approved. You may visit us soon and proceed for the trip after fulfiling necessary formalities,” the man from the agency said.
Sushil’s elder brother, Sunil Kumar, 33, a migrant labourer, was killed by Islamic State (IS) terrorists in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Trapped between poverty and fear that he could meet the same fate as his brother, Sushil Kumar put his travel plans on hold after his mother forbade him from taking the job. But the jobless man, who has passed Class 12, hasn’t said no to the agency yet.
“There are no other job avenues here. We all migrate for work. Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Oman and Qatar are our favoured destinations. We are not averse to travelling to Iran, Iraq, Algeria or Nigeria either if the pay package is attractive,” said Kumar, who has had his head tonsured — a ritual performed by Hindu men following a death of a family member. He also showed his passport.
On April 2, the entire district plunged into mourning after a special aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) flew to Patna carrying coffins of five local men, all migrant labourers killed by IS terrorists in Mosul. Sunil Kumar was among them.
The killings, however, haven’t dissuaded locals , except Sushil Kumar, from migrating to the Middle East, even to troubletorn countries like Iraq and Nigeria in pursuit of good job opportunities. A few local men said they had also been to Syria, but stopped going there after the ongoing civil war intensified.
The rush to go overseas for work can be gauged from the fact that the Siwan police verified around 2,00,000 passport applications from 2007 to 2013. Siwan superintendent of police (SP) Navin Chandra Jha said his office verifies around 4,000 new
SIWAN: There are no other job avenues here. We all migrate for work. Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Oman and Qatar are our favoured destinations
SUSHIL KUMAR, Deceased Sunil Kumar’s brother Roughly 10% of Siwan’s 3.2 million population are in the Middle East for work, foreign remittances have steadily increased MAHENDRA KUMAR, Siwan district magistrate In terms of foreign remittances, Bihar earns ₹2,000 crore per month, second highest received by any Indian state, after Kerala
ANIL KUMAR, postmaster general, India Post Bihar
passport applications every month. But we cannot say which countries they travel to as it is the domain of the ministry of external affairs, he added.
Every young boy, irrespective of his caste, race or religion, in this densely populated northern Bihar district bordering Uttar Pradesh grows up with the dream of getting a passport and migrating to the Middle East for work. They go there to work as manual labourers, mechanical fitters and plumbers. In the rush to go early and earn quickly, a majority of them drop out after Class 10 or 12. Few opt for higher studies.
“Roughly 10% of Siwan’s 3.2 million population are in the Middle East for work,” said Siwan district magistrate Mahendra Kumar. Recently transferred to Kishanganj, Mahendra Kumar said foreign remittances in Bihar have steadily increased over the years and contributed immensely to the local economy.
“You won’t see any ‘kutcha’ (thatched) houses in Siwan, even in the rural areas. The standard of living is pretty high compared to other Bihar districts and the flow of foreign money has given rise to several new institutions of learning, art and culture,” he added.
“Bihar receives around ₹400 crore from abroad via Western Union, the bulk of which comes to the Siwan-Gopalganj zone,” said Anil Kumar, chief postmaster general, India Post Bihar. He said in terms of foreign remittances, Bihar earns ₹2,000 crore per month, which is the second highest received by an Indian state, only behind Kerala. Siwan-Gopalganj is the major contributor.
At Sahasraon, a Rajputdominated village 15 km from Siwan, each extended family has at least two to three men living and working in the Middle East. Among the five bodies that arrived from Mosul on April 2, two were from here. Chandra Mohan Singh’s elder son, Santosh Kumar Singh, was one of them.
Armed with a passport and a certificate as a mechanical fitter, his younger son, Ashkant Vikram Singh, also had plans to migrate. He is pursuing his graduation from a local college, is keeping fingers crossed. “I am the lone support for my old parents. I will see if I get some work here. The option of migrating to the Middle East is always open,” he said.
In neighbouring Chhajwan, Amit Kumar, 25, has no hassles going back to Iraq. He reveals that he went to Basra in Iraq last year on a tourist visa and overstayed for nine months. He worked for a construction company. “There is no option but to migrate. Here you are not assured even of a ₹5,000 per month. A short trip of nine months to the Middle East helps us build capital to do business on return,” said Kumar.