Gulf migration
Topic: Population of India: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Gulf migration is Indian workers going to the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to work. The GCC is a group of oil-rich Arab states on the Persian Gulf. This movement began with the oil boom of the 1970s, when high oil prices paid for huge building and service projects that needed workers. Most of these workers come from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, UP and Bihar. Most go on fixed contracts and later return home. The GCC states now host about 9 million Indians (verify current). The money these workers send home is a major support for families and for state economies.
Example
Kerala, on India's south-west coast, sent large numbers of workers to the UAE and other Gulf states from the 1970s onwards. Their earnings paid for houses, schooling and health care back home, and changed the economy of many Kerala districts.
Don't confuse with
- Indentured labour migration: this was a colonial system (1834-1917) that took Indians to plantations in places like Fiji and Mauritius, where many settled for good. Gulf migration is modern contract work, and most workers return home.
Related concepts
- Census 2011 migration data
- Seasonal migration
- Reverse migration of 2020
- Indentured labour migration
- Indian diaspora
- Remittances