The number of Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs) from Thiruvananthapuram district in 2011 was lower than the corresponding figure for 2008. Although there was a small increase in the number of emigrants (4 per cent) at the state-level, most of the traditional emigration centres, including the state capital, experienced a decrease in emigrants and emigrants per household.
Also, the number of return emigrants (REM) to Kerala in 2011 was 11.503 lakh, about half the number of emigrants, reveals the report on Kerala Emigration Survey-2011, conducted by S Irudaya Rajan, Chair Professor, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs Research Unit on International Migration, Centre for Development Studies (CDS), who carried out the study with K C Zachariah, Honorary Professor, CDS.
The survey indicates that, like emigration, return emigration to Kerala also experienced an increasing trend since 1998. But in Thiruvananthapuram, the number of return emigrants stood at 1,96,101 in 2011 while it was 2,15,280 in 2008, a decrease by 19,180. In 2003, the number of return emigrants was 1,03,059 and in 1998, it was 1,18,878.
The return emigrants per household was 23.3 per cent in 2011 while it was 24.9 per cent in 2008.
“One reason for this decline in return emigration could be the increase in the proportion of educationally qualified emigrants who could stay in the host country for a much longer period. Related to this is the increase in the proportion of emigrants going to countries outside the Gulf region. Persons who emigrate to the USA and other developed countries take emigration as a way of life with no plans to return,” said the report.
There were a total of 4,25,833 NRKs in Thiruvananthapuram in 2011, while the figure was 5,23,761 in 2008. As should be expected on the basis of data on EMI and REM, Malappuram district has the largest number of non-resident Keralites, ie, 16.4 per cent of the total of 3.431 million NRKs in Kerala in 2011. And Thiruvananthapuram comes second with 12.4 per cent of the State’s NRKs. In Thiruvananthapuram, out of the total NRKs, 1,42,771 were Hindus, 43,480 Christians and 43,480 Muslims.
Another interesting finding in the study is that in 2011, Gulf wives were about 11.0 per cent of the married women in Kerala.
The corresponding ratio varies from 1.2 per cent in Idukki to 24.7 per cent in Malappuram.
In several of the districts, the number of Gulf wives increased, but in several others, the number decreased. In Kannur district, the number of Gulf wives increased from 63,000 in 2008 to 128,000 in 2011. On the other hand, in Thiruvananthapuram district, the number of Gulf wives decreased from 149,000 in 2008 to 104,000 in 2011, the report said.
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