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As the migrant crisis played out across the country during the lockdown, theatre director and playwright Aniruddha Khutwad found himself observing familiar scenes. He had met the protagonists, who came from villages to the cities and belonged to both and neither, in his plays such as Virasat. He had explored the role of the family in an individuals life in Raisins in the Sun and several other productions and studied the part played by women in society. So, when the Repertory Company of the National School of Drama (NSD) in Delhi decided to usher 2021 with a new play by Khutwad, the Pune-based director chose a stark sociopolitical work from the Marathi canon, Adhantar, to fit the times.

Written in 1993, Adhantar is about the impact of the closure of the cloth mills of Mumbai on the lives of the families who depended on it for their livelihood. I first watched it as a Marathi commercial theatre presented by the playwright Jayant Pawar in 1997. I directed the play in Marathi in 2009 and, again, in 2014 at NSD, both times as academic productions. Why have I turned to it again today as the world battles and medical and social crisis? This is because the play is, unfortunately, just as relevant now as it was 25 years ago, he says over the phone from Delhi. The play has been translated to Hindi by Kailash Sengar.

The script revolves around a lower-middle-class family of the 1980s and 90s from the chawls of Mumbais Girangaon and Lalbaug Parel. Aai is the mother to three sons and a daughter as well as the widow of a mill worker. The eldest son, Baba, has a college degree, dreams of being an author and considers getting a salaried job beneath his dignity. The second son, Mohan, did have a job once but is now applying to offices and meeting with failure every time. Naru, the youngest and uneducated, is a Bhai and a part of the Mumbai underworld. The daughter, Manju, feels suffocated by her job, her home and the society that forced her to abort after a premarital pregnancy. All of them are confined in a small room with an open toilet in a corner and a single light bulb suspended from the roof.

When the mills closed, 1.50 lakh families found themselves on the street with no food, money or employment. The aspect of COVID-19 that moved me the most was that labourers were let go overnight. While those with permanent jobs stood a chance of fighting back, the wage worker or employees on contract had nowhere to turn. Employment figures were not looking good even before the pandemic but, after the lockdown was announced, labourers had no option but to leave for their villages in large numbers. We need to take urgent measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 but the government should have looked after the lower strata as well, says Khutwad, an alumnus of NSD.

The performers in the play were unfamiliar with the politics or history of the Mumbai mills so Khutwad began the process of creating the play by using a small room, instead of a hall, for rehearsals. In this confined space, the actors internalised the pressures of being locked in with others without privacy through endless days. They evolved rituals and marked out spaces for themselves and the protagonists they play a corner with a bookshelf for one brother; a loft over the bathroom which is always dark and smelly for another; the tiny balcony for the daughter because she has no space inside the room.

We did not look at the characters as good or evil, but as people doing what they must to survive. Society is as responsible for a persons fate as that person themselves. As we worked on the play, discussing the mill culture and watching the sensitive documentary, titled Narayan Gangaram Surve, a veteran poet of Marathi literature who was a mill labourer himself, we began to see the play as events close to ourselves rather than something that happened long ago, says Khutwad.

The play unfolds in a room that set designer Rajesh Singh, with Khutwad, represents as a two-walled triangular structure to ensure audiences feel the walls closing in on the protagonists. The soundscape by Sourav Poddar represents the daily mix of traffic, mill sirens and local conversations while Motilal Khare moved around Old Delhi to find props that recalled a different decade in Marathi culture in the mills. Nalini Joshi, on costumes, worked with the cultural symbols surrounding the nine-yard sari that is worn by women in Maharashtra.

Ever since I read this play, it shook me from inside. I have no direct blood relation with the people of Girangaon, but there was a wave of empathy for them. I began to study the issue and its far-reaching effects. This is what the artistes in the play want to convey through Adhantar. We must understand the oppressed and stand with them, says Khutwad.

The play is being held at the National School of Drama in Delhi till today, 6.30 pm.

Read this article:
How a Pune theatre director is commenting on the COVID-19 migrant crisis through a play on the Mumbai mills - The Indian Express

In February 2020, PK Valsala, a 45-year-old single woman from Kerala, south India, went to Oman to start a job as a domestic worker. She was sent to Kish Island in Iran by her Omani employer to change her tourist visa into a work visa. She landed on 22 February and was scheduled to return to Oman on 26 February.

I thought that I would be able to change my visa and re-enter Oman in a week or so, she says. But then the coronavirus hit. The very next day, Oman closed it air borders, then Iran too.

At first, she wasnt too alarmed. My employer called me and told me not to worry. He sent some money to the hotel where I was staying, which was enough to cover my expenses for for two weeks. He told me that everything would be fine after that time. But that wasnt the case.

Valsala found herself stranded on Kish Island, a popular tourist resort in the Persian Gulf, for 142 days. She struggled for food and even faced eviction from the hotel where she was staying because she could no longer afford to pay her bills, and neither could her employer.

However, a few social organisations in Oman supported her and she was finally repatriated to India in July, along with 700 Indian fisherman who were also stranded on the Iranian coast in an Indian Navy Ship.

Upon returning to India, Valsala who had previously worked in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait thought that she would be able to return to Oman for work, but her employer was unable to hire her again.

Before the coronavirus there were an estimated 23 million migrant workers in the Gulf region. The twin shock of the coronavirus pandemic and falling oil prices led the IMF to predict that the economies of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council, or GCC) would contract by a massive 7.1 per cent in 2020.

Valsalas was one of the eight million jobs (or 13.2 per cent of working hours) that the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates was lost across the entire Arab region in the second quarter of 2020.

For the migrant workers who have managed to stay in the countries where they live and work, the Institute for Human Rights and Business says: Many [migrant workers] have been confined to poor living conditions in cramped dormitories, experienced job loss or non-payment of wages, been forced by employers to take unpaid leave or reduced wages, or repatriated back home with few to no alternative work options.

But for those who were forced to return home or who have been unable to leave their home country to start a new job abroad, the situation has been mixed. There is not yet any conclusive data on just how badly the coronavirus has impacted labour migration in South Asia (which is one of the biggest hubs of migrant labour globally) but the few statistics that are available paint a stark picture.

Both India and Bangladesh, two of the biggest sending countries in the region, witnessed a colossal dip in migration outflow in 2020. According to eMigrate, a channel set up by the Indian government to ensure fair migration, 368,043 people migrated abroad through the eMigrate channel in 2019; in 2020, that number was just 88,694, representing a 75 per cent decrease.

Meanwhile, official data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training also reveals a 74 percent decrease in migration outflow in 2020 (181, 218 people) compared to 2019 (700,159 people).

The economic situation in Oman forced Valsala to look for a job in her home state of Kerala. In September, she got a job working 10 hours a day for US$245 a month which is about US$100 less than what she would have earned in Oman. On top of that, the recruitment agency was charging her US$40 a month in commission. The agency is exploitative and doesnt even allow sick leave. Also, due to the Covid-19 restrictions, it is quite risky to go to unknown houses, stay there and do the job. So, I quit in November, Valsala tells Equal Times.

She is desperately trying to get back to the Gulf. But at the moment, there are not many jobs there. Even if there are jobs, the salary is too low. I was offered US$320 in the Gulf in February. Now, agents are telling me that I will get only US$200, she laments.

Moazzem Hossain is a 33-year-old Bangladeshi worker who lost his job as a mason in Saudi Arabia last year. Although he was sent back to Bangladesh due to the economic crisis, he is also trying to return to the Gulf.

I am now working as a construction worker in Dhaka. I get paid just US$170 a month and with that, I have to take care of my six-member family. It is hard to survive. In Saudi Arabia, I was able to earn around US$350 a month, Hossain tells Equal Times.

I have approached an agent in Dhaka. He is telling me that job opportunities are too low in the Arab Gulf now. He is also asking for an increased recruitment fee. When I went in 2017, I paid US$1,700 in fees. Now, I would have to pay US$2,000. But Hussain says that he is willing to pay the extra money if it lands him a job abroad.

When asked whether the fall in migration outflow is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, Shabari Nair, an ILO labour migration specialist for South Asia, said it was too early to tell. Although he notes the gradual resumption of foreign recruitment in some destination countries, Nair says: It would be better to assess this situation along the lines of the demands from the countries of destination, the specific sectors that demand these workers and the skills that the workers possess.

He says he hopes governments and employers will use the disruption caused by the pandemic as an opportunity to build a better recruitment process for migrant workers, one that ensures that workers are protected right from the very start. Nair also predicts that there may be some changes in the sectors that have the most vacancies. Healthcare workers, for example, may be in high demand, Nair says, adding that sending governments may also start looking at new migration corridors in Africa and Europe.

Like many low- to middle-income countries, remittances from migrant workers play a significant role in the countries of South Asia: in India remittances are said to make up 3 per cent of GDP while in Nepal they account for 27 per cent.

It was predicted that the economic downturn triggered by the pandemic could have a massive impact on the money sent home by workers abroad, with an October 2020 report from the World Bank estimating that remittances in South Asia will fall from US$135 billion in 2020 to US$120 billion in 2021.

However, Nair says the impact of Covid-19 on global remittances is still unclear, with some South Asian countries reporting an even higher inflow of remittances than usual.

Shakirul Islam, the founding chair of Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Program, a grassroots migrants organisation based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, is also assessing the situation carefully. He tells Equal Times that research conducted by his organisaton with potential and returnee migrant workers (those who were forced to return during the pandemic) shows that more than 72 percent of them (among 398 people) are still waiting for the situation to improve before they return overseas.

But this is a ticking time economic time bomb, he warns. Currently these workers are not getting any good jobsif situation doesnt get better in a year, then all migrant sending Asian countries will be facing a very tough time. We shouldnt forget that there are no jobs at home at the moment. If these people cant work in host countries either, then everything is going to be a problem.

Read more here:
South Asia's migrant workers are facing a jobs crisis both at home and (...) - Equal Times

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Jeh Johnson, who headed the Department of Homeland Security under President Obama, has said that 1,000 apprehensions in a single day along the southwest border would be considered a bad day. Not only is he correct, but I recall his frustration vividly while serving as chief of the Border Patrol in 2016 as the illegal migration flow was reaching alarming numbers. By those standards, Mr. Johnson wouldnt be having many good days at the moment.

In what can only be described as a massive self-inflicted wound, the Biden administration has swiftly, and without hesitation, taken a wrecking ball to Americas border security and enforcement capabilities ending construction of the border wall; stopping lawful deportations; terminating agreements with our neighbors to the south that helped stanch asylum fraud into the U.S.; ending the Migrant Protection Protocols program, which was responsible for the end of catch and release; dismantling interior enforcement authorities, which will result in thousands of gang members and criminals being released into cities across the country; and promising free health care, expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and an amnesty to millions of illegal aliens currently in the U.S.

Hes only been in office for a few weeks.

Currently, Border Patrol apprehensions of illegal aliens along the southern border have skyrocketed to roughly 3,500 per day, although the real number of illegal crossers, when taking into account those who turn back into Mexico to avoid apprehension and those who elude detection, is likely closer to 4,500 per day.

In January, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) apprehended almost 80,000 migrants trying to illegally enter the U.S., far surpassing what we encountered in January of 2020. At this rate well exceed the 100,000 apprehensions mark per month by March, essentially turning back the clock to the humanitarian crisis of 2019.

With a stroke of a pen, President Biden has thrust the country into another illegal migration crisis.

Instead of helping the nation that is not only desperately trying to recover from a deadly pandemic, but is also seeing an economic maelstrom strike its businesses and workers his priorities have withdrawn and removed almost every tool and policy which provided the U.S. with the ability to effectively address illegal migration.

And what is the Biden administrations strategy to deal with the new crisis they created? To replace the tools and policies he swiftly removed? He has created task forces to review the migration issue.

After signaling the borders would open, President Biden is sending a really strong message to the migrants that now is not the time to come.

The Biden administrations actions are not only absurd but devoid of any meaningful understanding of what drives illegal migration and how the cartels and human smuggling organizations exploit the loopholes, our policies, and the migrants themselves. If your strategy consists of releasing those who illegally cross our border, protecting them from lawful deportation, and rewarding their continuing illegal behavior with free health care and amnesty - why wouldnt they continue to come? Its not really complicated; if you encourage, incentivize and facilitate unlawful behavior, thats exactly what youll get.

The Biden administration has rejected the repeated pleas from countless law enforcement experts, as well as the data and science behind border security, to address this crisis in a thoughtful and meaningful way. And now, our borders are less secure, our country less safe, and the mission of the men and women on the front lines of our nations borders is made more dangerous.

The only remaining authority holding back the current crisis level numbers from becoming catastrophic, is the Center for Disease Control and Preventions order, known as Title 42 (T42), which gives CBP the authority to remove illegal aliens from the border expeditiously. Rather than being brought into CBP facilities, they are released back into Mexico.

But were already seeing cracks forming in this authority. For now, its holding, but when T42 falls and its only a matter of when it does the 4,500 a day will overwhelm our immigration system. Local border communities, as well as communities in the interior of the U.S., will be flooded with illegal aliens as catch and release will be the only alternative.

The Biden administration is playing a dangerous game by removing every effective tool and policy and putting their hope that T42 will remain in place long enough for them to figure out how to undo the crisis theyve facilitated. Theyre simply kicking the catastrophic crisis can down the road, but its already too late.

Mark Morgan is the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and a senior fellow at the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

See the original post here:
Don't blink, the border crisis has already begun - Washington Times

A renewed influx would put pressure on immigration courts already straining under a massive backlog of asylum cases. Those who favor more restrictive immigration policies say that migrants who lose their cases could go underground, choosing to remain in the country unlawfully and adding to the estimated 10 million undocumented people already in the United States.

It was predictable that there would be virtually no honeymoon for the Biden administration on the multiple crises that are displacing persons in the Northern Triangle states of Central America and elsewhere, said Donald Kerwin, executive director of the Center for Migration Studies, a nonpartisan think tank.

These include the two hurricanes that destroyed many livelihoods and homes in Guatemala and Honduras; the devastating effect of the pandemic on economies across Latin America; and continued gang control of many communities, often accompanied by extortion and violence.

The Biden administration should be credited with its commitment to address the conditions uprooting Central Americans, Mr. Kerwin said, but this will be a very long-term process, and, in the meantime, people have been forced to flee.

Before former President Donald J. Trump took office, it had been the longstanding practice through several administrations to allow people facing persecution in their home countries to enter the United States and submit petitions for asylum. Some new migrants were held in detention until their cases were decided while others went free.

But Mr. Trump derided such policies as catch and release, and in 2019, he imposed a requirement that applicants wait in Mexico until their asylum requests were approved or denied. In March of last year, his administration invoked a health emergency law to effectively seal the border during the pandemic except to citizens and legal residents of the United States. Those who attempted to cross were summarily expelled back to Mexico.

But Mexico in recent days has begun enforcing a law passed in November that bars holding children under 12 in government custody. As a result, it has stopped accepting Central American families with young children back into Mexico, at least along some stretches of the border with Texas, forcing the United States to keep them. In order to avoid holding large numbers of people in shelters or immigration detention centers during a health crisis, Border Patrol has been releasing some of them to join family and friends across the United States.

Read more:
Migrant Families Force Biden to Confront New Border Crisis - The New York Times

It is not improbable that we will face a second big migration crisis after the coronavirus pandemic, Monika Sie Dhian Ho believes.

Monika Sie Dhian Ho is the general director of Clingendael, the Netherlands Institute of International Relations.

Clingendael is an independent think tank and academy on international affairs and diplomacy which seeks to shape a more secure, sustainable and just world. It has traditionally had an impact on the shaping of foreign policy in the Netherlands whilst Sie advises the Dutch government on security and foreign affairs matters.

In an interview with Kathimerini, Sie warns about a possible incoming migration crisis due to the financial repercussions that Covid-19 will eventually leave behind. She maintains that a closer relationship between the European Union and neighboring Turkey will be beneficial to both parties in dealing with a hard future on migration and, finally, she expresses her belief that the EU is still not ready to intercept new migration waves confidently.

Countries such as Hungary, Austria and the Netherlands have refused to take in any significant number of migrants. The EU hasnt been able politically or legally to enforce a fair distribution of migrants across its member-states. Whats the reason behind such a failure?

We find ourselves in a situation whereby every country has something to complain about. Since the migration crisis began in 2015, we have not managed to reform our institutions, we have not made the EU more resilient to crises. After big crises you would expect that this reform would take place like it did on the economic front. The different interests of EU members have to do with differences in location; at one point the Dutch PM said that its due to geographical bad luck. This will not do on the negotiation table of course you cannot say that in a union you have a geographical bad luck and I hope that our PM knows that by now. Yes, there are differences in where the migrants want to go and in the economic situation of the different EU countries but we have not come up with an intelligent plan yet. The Commissions pact is a positive first step and is responsive to the interests of the different EU members. Our advice is that there is urgency to act now. We need an internal grand deal as well as an external bargain with third countries of origin. We need to build trust that the internal and external bargains are feasible through actively showing that the deals are made out of sincerity and common values.

Weve seen that this geographical bad luck rhetoric and attitude has prevailed on the migration issue. If it persists, will it weaken the EU?

Yes, that the EU will become weaker is the starting point of discussion. What will happen then is that countries in the front line will not be capable or willing to register incoming migrants. I think the Northern countries have come to understand that this fundamental injustice will not hold. If they hold on to this position, they know that they will face waves of secondary movements. So, they understand that a new internal deal is absolutely necessary. The Netherlands is well aware that the Dublin system needs reform and that relocation of migrants is necessary. The pandemic makes this challenge even harder.

How are Covid-19 and migration linked?

In African countries the health consequences of the pandemic have been less intense than in Europe. However, the economic consequences are devastating. Migrants lose their jobs abroad due to the pandemic and send in less remittances. The oil shocks created by the pandemic impose economic obstacles and the aftershocks of the disease pushthese countries into deeper crises. African migration has increased despite the pandemic. For example, irregular departures from Tunisia to Italy have significantly increased. Therere severe economic migrant crises created by the pandemic combined with potential political crises also triggered by Covid-19. It is not improbable that we will face a second big migration crisis after the disease. In 2011, we had the Arabic Spring due to unemployment and in Syria we had a war. This was the runup of the refugee crisis of 2015. The Arab Spring itself was the runup of the 2008 economic crisis. The Covid-19 crisis is expected to potentially be even more severe so Europe needs to become truly robust on migration policy now to overcome a hard future on this front.

Turkey is Greeces neighbor but also the EUs. What is the impact of the quality of our relationship with Turkey on the migrantswelfare?

Turkey hosts almost 4 million refugees. The EU is not willing to welcome those 4 million refugees, they prefer that these refugees remain in Turkey. Turkey is ready to receive them, and there children can go to school and parents can find jobs. The EU members contribute by paying those organizations in Turkey that facilitate these migrant populations. The migrants deserve these funds. Of course, the consequence of this is that countries like Turkey but also Morocco and Tunisia find out that they get leverage in their relationship against EU countries. We have to arrive on a partnership that is based much more on common interest and equality in the relationship. Specifically, what we need to do is twofold: Firstly, we need to continue offering Turkey the financial means to keep on sending migrant kids to school, and secondly, it is of high importance that we build a tracing mechanism to ensure that the funds we offer to Turkey end up benefiting the migrants solely.

It seems that migrant populations integrate better in the US than they do in Europe. We have seen that recently they have wreaked havoc in Austria and in France. How do you explain this reality? Are we witnessing a clash of civilizations?

The emphasis on work in the United States has been a key factor for migrant integration. People are welcome to work and they find work almost immediately after arrival. Work is a crucial aspect to integration. Secondly, what also plays a role is that the EU has not emphasized adequately what the European Way of Life is. The EC, by appointing Margaritis Schinas as VP, has acknowledged that there exists a European way of life which we want to protect, defend and develop. When welcoming a migrant, it is important that you explain to them clearly what this way of life is so that person knows how to behave and integrate. The key values of our society need explanation, therefore work and clarity about the societal model are significant factors for integration. Without rules and transparency, problems are unavoidable.

Link:
Europe could face another big migration wave after the pandemic, STEFANOS TSAKIRIS | Kathimerini - http://www.ekathimerini.com