ABSTRACT
The global fi nancial crisis had many casualties including the fi nancial sector debacle, export stagnation and falling oil prices. However, these effects were largely visible in the developed world and the oil-rich regions. Most of the developing world remained relatively insulated from the global crisis mainly due to its poor integration with the global market and also due to the strong regulatory role the governments still imparted in many of these countries.1 Yet, the crisis reached these countries mainly transmitted through its effects on international migration. No other part of the world depends on migration and remittances as a source of economic development than the South Asian region, where a large number of migrant workers have built their hope for a different and brighter future than their past. The crisis — in this case, the decline in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in general in the Middle East region — led to the loss of jobs and means of livelihood for many workers from South Asia (Parameswaran 2009; Rajan and Narayana 2010). However, the loss of jobs in the gulf is compounded by the fact that in their own home countries the rehabilitation and reintegration of these workers is tedious and often the returnees are thrust with forced choices.
