By Sanu George, IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : Keralites continue to be the largest Indian expatriate group in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Talmiz Ahmad, the Indian ambassador to the UAE told IANS that of the 1.4 million Indians in the UAE, Keralites account for 50 percent.
“The profile of the Keralite community is fast changing. Five years back, a large number of Keralites were employed as unskilled labourers; it has changed and today they have moved upwards and are now in the skilled category. Likewise the presence of Keralites in the bottom layer of the white collar jobs is also increasing,” said Ahmad.
Of the Indian population, 300,000 are in Abu Dhabi and around 700,000 in Dubai and the northern emirates and the rest in the other emirates.
“The Telugu population is rapidly increasing and basically dominate the labour category, a place which was initially the stronghold of Keralites,” the Indian envoy said.
He said that due to constant appeals made by the Indian government on the risks involved in staying and working as illegal workers in the UAE, the number of Keralites in this category has virtually diminished.
“Now I don’t have to speak about this in Kerala, but when I go to Andhra Pradesh, I will have to seriously speak on this issue,” said Ahmad.
He said that 70,000 Indian expats availed the amnesty scheme launched by the UAE government for illegal immigrants to regularise their status or leave the country. The scheme ended Nov 2.