In what is seen as a determined bid on part of Gulf nations to reduce their dependence on the Indian workers in the coming days, most of the companies in the Gulf nations have been increasingly depending on the workers from African countries.

Governments in the Gulf region have directed the companies in their countries to diversify their sources of workers to various Gulf countries too, not just being dependent on workers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

“Because of the development, there is bound to be a slowdown in the migration of workers from the Indian sub continent to the Gulf region in the next few years,” said Mr Dilip Ratha, an expert on migration and remittance issues with the World Bank. “This will have a drastic negative impact and reduce the remittances to the Indian sub continent in the coming years,” he said.

In a telephonic conversation from Geneva, Mr Ratha said that, for the first time since the 1990s, the Africans are bound to offer a tough competition to the Indian expatriates in the coming days in the employment sector in the Gulf region.

Ratha talked of two simultaneous developments that have changed the attitude of the Gulf countries towards the Indian repatriates. The first one is Indians are  nowadays getting good salaries in India back and demanding abnormal salaries for changing over to or sticking to their jobs in the Gulf.

Coincidentally, African countries have been establishing good ties with the Gulf countries and opting for liberal labour laws besides encouraging their work force to move long distance to Gulf region. (JUBS)