Kerala was shocked when a fve-year-old migirant girl was raped and killed in Ernakulam district. The minor girl from Bihar was abducted from her home, and her body was discovered later in a heap of marshy garbage near a market. The accused, Asfak Alam, 28, also a migrant worker from Bihar, has confessed to the crime.
The gruesome incident has put the entire migrant community—45 lakh as per unofficial estimates—under the scanner, with every migrant being viewed with suspicion. That the accused was jailed in New Delhi earlier for molesting another minor and had been absconding after jumping bail has further aggravated the distrust.
This ill feeling does not augur well for a state that is entirely dependent on migrants in most sectors—farming, construction, hotels, restaurants, etc. Most migrants come from West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and Assam, as per data. Many have been staying in Kerala for decades, building their homes in the state and marrying locally. While most migrants are living their life well in the state—thanks to the much higher wages offered—it cannot be denied that some criminals, too, have found their way into Kerala and indulge in illicit practices including drug trafficking.
It is a fact that the state will come to a standstill without migrant labourers, so the best way forward is to streamline a process that fosters the peaceful coexistence of natives and migrants. The first step is to have foolproof data on migrant workers residing in the state. The government had earlier decided to make registration for migrant workers mandatory but dropped it following protests from certain rights organisations that alleged that it violated the workers’ fundamental rights. If the government is serious about addressing the situation, it must not succumb to pressures and instead proceed with the exercise. Local self-governments may be in a better position to collect migrants’ details in a decentralised manner.
Another solution could be a government-level understanding between the states the migrants hail from and the state where they currently work. This will ensure the source–destination data collection is more effective. The state government must also initiate steps to provide better welfare measures for the migrants. It is wrong to view the entire migrant community with suspicion for crimes committed by a few. The need of the hour is building mutual trust to ensure the peaceful coexistence of natives and migrants.