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Goanetter Francis Rodrigues (Vasco/Toronto) unveils his book, The Greatest Konkani Song Hits. Launch dates: Goa (Kala Academy) on 9 Aug. 4 pm. U.K. (Staines) on 15 Aug. Canada on 20 Aug and US on 30 Aug. Details http://www.konkanisongbook.com/ ----------------------------------------------------------------- G'BYE GOA: GOAN EMIGRATION-4 By Valmiki Faleiro Most Goan émigrés in Portuguese and British Africa never returned. They either stayed on, or moved to Portugal, UK and the rest of the developed world. With families raised and settled in that milieu, why would émigré-parents return to Goa? They're part of Goa's permanent emigrants. Then there's another major chunk of Goan expats: Gulf Goans. Like seamen, they emigrated for work, but are rooted to Goa. Not by choice perhaps, because Arabs do not grant citizenship to foreigners. Some Gulf Goans, sure, resettled in the west. The story of Gulf Goans, again, traces back to the British and their 1799-1813 occupation of Goa, which ushered the modern wave of emigration by Goans. The Persian/Arabian Gulf began to open up when the British placed a garrison in Aden in the early 1800s. After Napoleon conquered Egypt, Aden became strategic to protect British interests in India. When steamships were invented and a coalbunker station was needed on the Britain-India sea-route in the Red Sea area, the British promptly captured Aden in 1839 and made it the "Coal-hole of the East." (They punctured many other holes in the region, and I'm not only on oil wells. Remember the 1922 Palestine Mandate and creation of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.) Oil interests of the West blossomed into new job opportunities for Goa. The "Gulf Fever" infected Goa in the 1960s. It never really subsided. By the 1970s, Kuwait and UAE alone absorbed 50,000 Goans. In 1987, Gulf Goans counted 1,50,000 plus. When the Gulf Fever was in full bloom late last century, most Goan villages in the Old Conquest talukas, particularly Salcete, would have their working population depleted by anywhere between 15 to 50 percent. The Gulf is the single biggest destination of Goan emigrants (56%, leading far ahead of Europe with 13%, South- SE Asia 11%, North America 10% and seamen 7%.) No official statistics on modern Goan out-migration/emigration was ever compiled. Perhaps for the obvious reason: migration out of the land was a shameful reflection of the competence of Goa's successive governments since 1963 to create adequate and rewarding local job opportunities. Credit for conducting the first ever post-1961 survey on Goan emigration goes to the NRI Commissioner, Eduardo Faleiro, once my college lecturer in law, a distinguished parliamentarian and a man of foresight. At his instance, Thiruvananthapuram-based Centre for Development Studies (CDS) undertook the job. (CDS is a Government of India body, established by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.) CDS conducted a representative survey of 6,000 households across Goa, selected under the Stratified Multistage Random Sampling method. The report threw up some interesting, if not unexpected, results. Let's look at a few highlights today. And a bit more in detail next Sunday. Here are some of the findings of the study. Salcete accounts for one-half of Goan emigration. Together with Bardez and Tiswadi, the Old Conquest talukas add up to 81% of Goan emigration. Three-fourth (75%) of it is Catholic. In contrast, Goan Hindus (66% of the population) account for only 20% emigration. ("Emigration rate is 42 per 100 households among Catholics, but only 5% among Hindus.") However, when we count out-migrants (émigrés out of Goa but within India), Goan Hindus account for 71% as against a mere 24% Catholics. Seventeen percent households have two family members abroad, 20% have more than two members. This figure goes up to as many as five family members abroad from a single household! Goans are spread over 43 countries of the world, as per the study's statistical sample (though the report adds, "they are found the world over and it would be difficult to name a country without a Goan community . the general understanding among scholars in Goa.") The survey, however, covered only Goan émigrés in the Gulf region, Europe, South and South East Asia, North America and aboard ships, not the ones settled in regions like South America, Australia and New Zealand. Remember these figures pertain only to émigrés who still have family back home. Since ancient times and yet to this day, entire Goan families moved away, leaving no one behind to report their emigration. (ENDS) ======================================================== The above article appeared in the Herald, Goa, edition of August 9, 2009
