https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Kerala_Gulf_diasporaKerala Gulf diaspora - Revision history2026-08-01T03:25:43ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Kerala_Gulf_diaspora&diff=148698&oldid=previmported>Citation bot at 02:58, 29 August 20212021-08-29T02:58:36Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}<br />
{{Infobox ethnic group<!--The use of this Infobox in no way implies that the Kerala Gulf diaspora is an ethnic-group--><br />
|group= '''ഗൾഫ് മലയാളി'''<br>'''Gulf Malayali'''<br />
|total = 3.5 million (2020 est.)<ref>{{Cite journal|doi=10.1007/s41027-020-00292-9|title=Inclusion of Interstate Migrant Workers in Kerala and Lessons for India|year=2020|last1=Peter|first1=Benoy|last2=Sanghvi|first2=Shachi|last3=Narendran|first3=Vishnu|journal=The Indian Journal of Labour Economics|volume=63|issue=4|pages=1065–1086|pmid=33204053|pmc=7659401}}</ref><br />
|region1 = {{flag|UAE}}<br />
|pop1 = 773,624<br />
|ref1 = <ref name="NoRKA">Zachariah, K. C. & Rajan, S. Irudaya (2008), ''[http://www.cds.edu/admin/homeFiles/Kerala%20Migration%20Survey%202007.pdf Kerala Migration Survey 2007]'' (PDF), Department of Non-resident Keralite Affairs, Government of Kerala, p. 48. This is the number of emigrants from Kerala, which is closely related to but different from the actual number of Malayalis.</ref><br />
<br />
|region2 = {{flag|Kuwait}}<br />
|pop2 = 634,728<br />
|ref2 = <ref name="NoRKA"/><br />
<br />
|region3 = {{flag|Saudi Arabia}}<br />
|pop3 = 447,440<br />
|ref3 = <ref name="NoRKA"/><br />
<br />
|region4 = {{flag|Qatar}}<br />
|pop4 = 445,000<br />
|ref4 = <ref name="NoRKA"/><br />
<br />
|region5 = {{flag|Oman}}<br />
|pop5 = 134,019<br />
|ref5 = <ref name="NoRKA"/><br />
<br />
|region6 = {{Flag|Bahrain}}<br />
|pop6 = 101,556<br />
|ref6 =<ref name="NoRKA2">Zachariah, K. C. & Rajan, S. Irudaya (2011), ''[http://www.cds.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/WP450.pdf Kerala Migration Survey 2011]'' (PDF), Department of Non-resident Keralite Affairs, Government of Kerala, p. 29. This is the number of emigrants from Kerala, which is closely related to but different from the actual number of Malayalis.</ref><br />
<br />
|langs = [[Malayalam language|Malayalam]], [[English language|English]], [[Arabic]]<br />
|religions =[[Hinduism]], [[Islam]], [[Christianity]]<br />
}}<br />
The '''Kerala Gulf diaspora''' refers to the people of [[Kerala]] living in the Middle Eastern [[Arab states of the Persian Gulf]]. In 2008, they numbered more than 2.5 million. Nearly 80 percent of Indians living in Kuwait are from Kerala according to the 2008 survey{{Citation needed|date=March 2019}} commissioned by the [[Department of Non Resident Keralites Affairs|Department of Non-resident Keralite Affairs]].<br />
<br />
== The Gulf Boom ==<br />
The "Gulf Boom" refers to the mass migration of a large number of people from the [[India]]n state of [[Kerala]] to the [[Gulf Cooperation Council|GCC states]] from 1972 to 1983.<ref>''Gulf Dream: For Indians The Golden Beaches Still gleam'', [[Malayala Manorama]] Yearbook 1990;</ref> Largely consisting of the migration of [[Malayalis]], the dominant indigenous ethnic group in Kerala, the movement of many migrant workers from Kerala to the GCC states continues to the present day, although in smaller numbers after the 2008 international financial crisis began to affect the GCC region. This initial wave of migration is usually referred to as the ''Kerala Gulf Boom''. In 2010, the GCC states contained a total Keralite population of more than 3.5 million, who annually sent home a sum of around $6.81 billion (US),<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/GCC-residency-cap-may-force-lakhs-to-return/article15284841.ece | title=GCC residency cap may force lakhs to return | first=Biju | last=Govind | newspaper=The Hindu | date=19 August 2008 | access-date=25 August 2019 }}</ref> which is more than 15.13% of the total [[Remittance#Top recipient countries|Remittance to India in 2008]]. In 2013 the remittance was more the 60,000 crore (600 billion) rupees.{{Citation needed|date=March 2019}}<br />
<br />
== Background ==<br />
Huge [[oil]] reserves were discovered in the [[Eastern Arabia]] region ([[Arab states of the Persian Gulf]]) in the 1930s, with large-scale commercial extraction beginning in the early 1950s. Soon, these countries became major world oil-exporting countries, amassing huge riches within a matter of years, a feat that perhaps has no historical parallel. However, these nations were handicapped by small populations and labour forces, with commensurately small skills levels. To meet the challenge they faced, they had to substantially increase immigration at all levels. [[India]], which faced very high [[unemployment]] rates, quickly saw the opportunity for its citizens to gain a share of the new work opportunities, with manual workers from [[Kerala]] at the forefront. Historical ties and the religious identity of [[Indian Muslims]]—many Keralite migrants are Muslim.<ref>{{cite news|title=Remittances: Like manna from heaven|url=https://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21663264-how-torrent-money-workers-abroad-reshapes-economy-manna|access-date=5 September 2015|work=[[The Economist]]|date=5 September 2015}}</ref><br />
<br />
== Effects of the Gulf Migration on the economy and society of Kerala ==<br />
Remittances are a key source of income for Kerala's economy. In 2003 for instance, remittances were 1.74 times the revenue receipts of the state, 7 times the transfers to the state from the Central Government, 1.8 times the annual expenditure of the Kerala Government, and 15 to 18 times the size of foreign exchange earned from the export of cashew and marine products.<ref>Remittances and its impact on the Kerala Economy and Society, S Irudaya Rajan and K.C. Zachariah</ref><br />
<br />
Gulf migrants, many of whom were from the working and the lower-middle classes, gradually gained social status. A myth was in the making: that of the 'Gulf man'. Gulf migrants were highly sought after as bridegrooms. Their attractive earnings, irrespective of their shortcomings, enabled them to marry into wealthy and respected families when they returned home.<br />
<br />
The Gulf Dream has also found its expression in Malayalam cinema and literature. [[M. Mukundan]]'s [[Daivathinte Vikrithikal]] draws out in detail the socio-economic impacts of Gulf migration on the enclave of Mahe. [[Pathemari]] (English: Dhow) is a 2015 Malayalam-language period drama film written and directed by [[Salim Ahamed]] whose plot follows the life of Pallikkal Narayanan ([[Mammootty]]) who migrated to the Middle-East in the early 1960s, when the Kerala Gulf boom was just beginning.<br />
<br />
== Notable personalities ==<br />
{{Unreferenced section|date=March 2019}}<br />
<br />
*[[M. A. Yousuf Ali]] - Retail & Money Exchange - [[Lulu Hypermarket|Lulu]] Group of companies<br />
*[[Joy Alukkas]] - Jewellery, Fashion & Lifestyle, Money Exchange - [[Joyalukkas]] Group<br />
*[[B. Ravi Pillai]] - Diversified - RP Group<br />
*[[Azad Moopen]] - Healthcare - [[Aster DM Healthcare]]<br />
*[[R.Harikumar ]] - Aluminium Extrusion - Elite Group<br />
*[[P. Mohamed Ali]] - Construction & Oilfield Supplies -[[Galfar Engineering and Contracting]] SAOG<br />
*[[P. V. Abdul Wahab]] - Diversified - Peevees & Bridgeway Group<br />
*[[Shamsheer Vayalil]] - Healthcare - [[VPS Healthcare]]<br />
*[[P. N. C. Menon]] - Construction - [[Sobha Ltd.]]<br />
*[[Sunny Varkey]] - Education - [[GEMS Education|GEMS]]<br />
<br />
== See also ==<br />
* [[Department of Non Resident Keralites Affairs]]<br />
* [[World Malayalee Council]]<br />
* [[Migrant labourers in Kerala]]<br />
* [[Economy of Kerala]]<br />
* [[Unemployment in Kerala]]<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
== External links ==<br />
* {{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lMmSFw8G4wgC&q=Arabi-Malayalam&pg=PA186 |chapter=4: Middle Eastern Migration From Kerala<br />
|author=Prema Kurien<br />
|author-link=Prema Kurien<br />
|title=Kaleidoscopic ethnicity: international migration and the reconstruction of community identities in India<br />
|publisher=Rutgers University Press |year=2002|isbn=9780813530895<br />
}}<br />
*{{cite web<br />
|url=http://www.ssrc.org/workspace/images/crm/new_publication_3/%7Baeb05f75-7250-de11-afac-001cc477ec70%7D.pdf <br />
|title=A Socio-Cultural Perspective on Migration and Economic Development: Middle Eastern Migration from Kerala, India <br />
|author=Prema A. Kurien <br />
|publisher=Syracuse University <br />
|url-status=dead <br />
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306050600/http://www.ssrc.org/workspace/images/crm/new_publication_3/%7Baeb05f75-7250-de11-afac-001cc477ec70%7D.pdf <br />
|archive-date=2012-03-06 <br />
}}<br />
*{{cite web |url=http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/5178/1/ch9_osellas.pdf |title=Chapter 9, "I am Gulf": The production of cosmopolitanism among the Koyas of Kozhikode, Kerala<br />
|author=Filippo Osella, University of Sussex & Caroline Osella, SOAS, University of London}}<br />
<br />
{{NRI-PIO}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:History of Kerala (1947–present)]]<br />
[[Category:Economy of Kerala]]<br />
[[Category:Ethnic groups in the Middle East]]<br />
[[Category:Kerala diaspora| ]]<br />
[[Category:Indian diaspora]]<br />
[[Category:Demographic history of India]]</div>imported>Citation bot