11 Indian Workers’ Deaths in Georgia Highlight Lack of Safeguards for Migrant Rights
The tragedy underscores the lack of protections for the millions of Indian workers leaving the country for better economic opportunities abroad.
The shocking death of 11 Indian workers at a resort in Gudauri, Georgia – a popular skiing and paragliding destination in the Caucasus mountains on the Georgia-Russia border – shook their home country. The tragedy has also spotlighted a glaring lack of legal safeguards for millions of Indian workers leaving the country for better economic opportunities abroad.
All the workers were asphyxiated to death by carbon monoxide poisoning at the living quarters of Haveli, the Indian restaurant in Gudauri where they worked. In addition to the 11 Indian nationals, a Georgian citizen was also killed. The 12 bodies were found on December 14.
According to preliminary investigations, “a power generator was placed in an indoor area, closed space near the [deceaseds’] bedrooms, which was turned on yesterday [December 13], probably after the power supply was turned off,” said a
statement from Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs. The statement added that the gruesome tragedy “implies negligent manslaughter.”
According to The Print, officials in the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said on December 17 that the Indian embassy in Georgia “is in touch with the families and is working with local authorities to repatriate the mortal remains at the earliest.”
The mass deaths have shattered the dreams and wrecked the homes of the victims – many of who were sole breadwinners of their families. Most hailed from the northern state of Punjab. One of the deceased, Sameer Kumar, 20, a resident of Khanna village, had moved to Georgia around six months ago, his uncle told this correspondent over phone.
“We spoke to our child on his birthday on December 14. He was excited about his new job and had plans to save money to build a nice house for his parents in the village. Little did we know that his first job will also be his last,” the uncle said, sobbing.
“We took a loan of $8,000 to pay to agents for his migration. We have no money left now, so we’ve requested the Indian government to repatriate his body.”
Ravinder Kala, 35, was another victim and resident of Jalandhar. His shocked family said he had been in Georgia for nine years. “He worked very hard to save money for his family of six – aged parents, wife, two daughters and a son. He was unable to get employment in our village, so we pooled all our resources to send him to Georgia. We’ve no words to describe the tragedy that has befallen us,” said his brother, Kishan Kala.
The relatives highlighted poverty and lack of opportunities in rural Punjab as the trigger for their kin’s migration. They said the migrants paid between $5,000 and $10,000 in agents’ fees and travel expenses – taking loans against agricultural land or pawning family jewels to go abroad.
It’s no coincidence that all the dead in this tragedy are from Punjab. The Indian state is notorious for sending the most illegal migrants abroad through human smuggling rackets perpetuated by unscrupulous agents.
Although Georgia is increasingly becoming a popular destination for Indian job aspirants, agents say the United States is their top most choice to migrate.
However, with increasing curbs on migration to the land of their dreams, agents facilitate migration through the “
donkey route,” which involves moving from one country to another till migrants reach either Canada or Mexico, after which they cross the U.S. border on foot. The passage is fraught with risks and exploitation, as migrants increasingly rely on human smuggling networks to navigate complex, often dangerous routes.
The journey can also be fatal as reports of families perishing en route have come to light. The Bollywood movie “Dunki,” headlined by superstar Shahrukh Khan, highlighted this menace.
Labor rights activists say that the Indian government needs to urgently address the recurring problem of lack of safety for Indian migrant labor. “We’ve been expressing grave concerns to the government for years as there are no formal checks and balances in place to ensure worker safety abroad. But not much has been done. The government reacts only in crisis,” said New Delhi-based labor activist Navsharan Jyot.
Jyot added that even Indian workers who go to conflict-prone regions – like Russia, Israel, and Ukraine – and are required to register with India’s e-migrate system, don’t often follow the procedures. “This leaves thousands of these desperate workers at risk repeatedly, as highlighted in recurrent tragedies over the years,” she added.
Earlier this year, 40 Indian factory workers perished in a fire at a residential building in the Kuwaiti city of Mangaf. The building housed 196 workers living in overcrowded and unhygienic conditions.
Two years ago, in the lead-up to the football World Cup in Qatar, there were repeated reports of harsh living conditions endured by Indian migrant workers and other abuses of their human rights. Similar reports surfaced during construction of the infrastructure for the Dubai Expo.
Such incidents are par for the course in Europe as well, a continent known for its stringent labor laws to protect workers’ rights. A 54-year-old Indian migrant worker from Punjab died due to
extreme heat and a heavy workload while working on a flower farm in central Italy earlier this year, amid reports that migrant workers from India live amid slave-like conditions in the Mediterranean country.
In July, Italian police rescued more than two dozen Indian migrants from a farm in central Italy, saying they had been “reduced to slavery” due to debts and having their passports confiscated by employers. Workers were forced to live in poor conditions, work long hours, and have limited job protection. Many of these workers were cramped into overcrowded ghettoes or abandoned buildings.
Human rights groups have regularly raised concerns over the abysmal living conditions of migrant labor. “Despite their substantial economic contributions through remittances, a labor-exporting country like India still doesn’t have a robust mechanism in place to protect its migrant workforce abroad,” said Prateek Arora, a Delhi-based labor lawyer who has represented several Indian migrant litigants in their fight for justice. Arora added that migrants typically spend “thousands of dollars in expenses ranging from local travel, agent fees, visa, flight tickets, and more.”
The lawyer said that the Indian government has fallen short of protecting the rights and dignity of migrant labor, shielding itself by citing the principle of non-interference in the policies of destination countries. This is despite the fact that India is a founding member of the International Labor Organization and has ratified six out of the eight core ILO conventions, Arora added.
Although there are no official figures available for the number of Indian migrants currently working abroad, India remains one of the world’s leading labor exporting countries. The Kerala Migration Survey 2023 estimated that 2.2 million people have migrated as labor worldwide, with over 80 percent employed in Gulf countries.
“As foreign workers in the Middle East do not have the option of becoming citizens, their rights aren’t officially protected by the state leading to exploitation and abuse. Because of this, migrants continue to face serious risks while working abroad,” explained Arora.
Arora recommends creating a formal system of checks and balances to safeguard workers’ interest in destination countries; formal agreements with foreign governments; sensitization of workers to their rights and stringent punitive action against abusive employers.
