Eid reunions unlikely for migrant workers

High travel costs will prevent many from celebrating the festival with their families, friends

KARACHI:

While most will be able to celebrate the auspicious occasion of Eid surrounded by family and friends, Karachi’s migrant workers feel that it is unlikely that they will be able to go back home to their loved ones this time around given the steep fares.

A vast majority of the migrant worker population, belonging to diverse parts of the country, normally leaves the port city to celebrate Eid festivities in their native hometowns. However, this year the recent spike in fuel rates, which has resulted in an upsurge in travel costs, has dimmed the hopes of a family reunion for numerous labourers.

“Every year, my wife and our child, would visit our natal home in Multan to celebrate Eid with our parents. This time around, our chances of spending Eid with our loved ones look rather bleak since we can not afford the fares,” shared a dejected Riaz, who has been working at a milk shop in Karachi for more than a decade.

Unlike Riaz, even though Waseem, a cargo driver, has plans to travel back to his family for Eid, he feels that he cannot afford to spend a month-long vacation with his family since he would have to rush back to work quickly in order to compensate for the added expenditure on travelling. “If I spend weeks away from work, like before, how will I make up for the extra money spent on travelling,” he scoffed.

The surge in diesel rates during the past year, has triggered an unprecedented spike in transportation costs - which are up by 20 to 30 per cent, and are only expected to double during the last ten days of Ramazan, right before Eid.

“As Eid approaches, it is quite likely that bus fares will increase by approximately Rs 1000 per person,” informed Mohsin, a manager at a transportation company.

Privy to such surges in travel costs before Eid this year, some thoughtful employers have started covering the travel expenditures of their workers.

One such owner is Aman Achakzai, running a tea hotel in Karachi, who shows deep concern for the plight of migrant workers, longing to spend time with their loved ones twice a year on Eid.

“The two Eid’s are very special for our migrant employees since they look forward to being with their families. However, this year most of them cannot afford the fares. Even though we have covered the travel costs of our migrant employees, most employers won’t,” shrugged Achakzai.

Aware of the unwillingness of employers to accommodate yearly travels for their migrant workforce, some labourers have decided to take loans.

As Asif Hussain, a bread maker at a hotel, who hails from Rahim Yar Khan, revealed, “I have taken a Rs 25,000 loan from my employer so that I can visit my family. I will have to work extra to pay it off, but it will be worth the time I get to spend with my loved ones.”

In addressing the grievances of the migrant community, Waqar Mehdi, adviser to the Chief Minister of Sindh, conceded that uncontrollable inflation was the root cause of the spiked travel costs and steps were being taken to curb it. “As far as the fares before Eid are concerned, the Transport Department has been tasked with penalising any bus service which increases ticket prices during the last days of Ramazan,” informed Mehdi while talking to The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 19^th, 2023.