The southern state of Kerala has seen a significant surge of migrant workers in recent years. Although earlier the migrant population in Kerala constituted of seasonal workers from the neighbouring states such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka there has been an influx of people from Assam, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and other Northeastern states as well. This presence is also discernible in Kerala’s labour market where Malayalam is no more the only mode of communication. According to Census 2011, the total number of migrants (by place of birth) from other states in Kerala was recorded to be 60,12,849 constituting 30% of the state’s population.

Noting the rising population of migrant workers in Kerala and to address various concerns associated with the dominion, Caritas India’s Anti-Human Trafficking and Migration desk on 14^th September 2022 organised a kick-start meeting of the migration programme supported by Caritas Belgium, in Vijayapuram social service society, Kottayam. The main objective of the meeting was to prepare a comprehensive strategic plan for the implementation of the project in the four partners’ locations including Palakkad, Thrissur, Ernakulam and Kottayam. Fr. Augustine, Director VSSS and Fr. Linus Asst. Director expressed their gratitude and thanked Caritas India for kick-starting the initiative for the protection of safety and security of Migrants workers in the post covid era. They were equally eager in extending their collaboration with Caritas India to support migrant workers in Kottayam in all possible ways.

From Caritas India, Mr. Nixon, Programme finance officer, Mr. Abeesh, State Officer and Mr. Deepak George, Programme Associate, Pravasi Bandhu, presented the overall orientation of programme to all the participants. The Programme Extension associate of Caritas Belgium, Mr. Dani, Mrs. Anakha, Mr.Nelson and Mr. Raju went through the activities undertaken by the organisation in detail. The programme concluded with a way forward planning meeting.