Mr Ashraf said the wage theft is the apt word to define the denial of salary. While, Ibrahim Kutty
expressed his union’s solidarity to fight wage theft of Keralite migrants. Harikumar said that
issues of migrants are too complex and the governments who are responsible to address them
are failing to fulfil their responsibilities.
George Stephen also supported the complaint. He said that Keralite migrants who have
returned from foreign countries are struggling to migrate and the governments are doing
anything to address the issue.
Kerala Wage Theft Report
Parvathy Devi, a researcher associated with the CIMS, presented a Kerala Wage Theft report.
In the report, Parvathy stated that the total wage theft suffered by Keralite migrant workers who
have returned due to job loss from foreign countries following the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak
will be around Rs 1,200 crore.
Thousands of Keralites had flown back home from across the world during the pandemic after
losing their jobs. As of July 15, 2021, NORKA Roots estimates that 10,98,334 returnees have lost
their jobs abroad. And the NORKA data also says that 120,816 Keralites are yet to receive their
unpaid salary.
Parvathy said based on their study they have found that, if one returnee has suffered a loss of
Rs 1 lakh, then it would amount to Rs 1,200 crore.