Kerala Christian Diaspora: A Stocktaking

Dr. Cherian Samuel

Introduction. Kerala Christian Diaspora (KCD) has emerged as a dynamic and dominant force over time. This essay provides a statistical outline of the KSD at the Macro level, complementing the Micro contributions that have been featured in the January 2023 and the current April 2023 FOCUS issues. The essay is divided into two sections. The first section provides a statistical outline of the KCS, drawing on the large body of work on Kerala migrationi. The second section concludes the essay and offers some reflections. The essay draws extensively on the pathbreaking research regarding demographic changes and migration patterns of Kerala Christians by Dr K C Zachariah (1925-2023)ii.

Kerala Christian Population. Scholars have estimated the total Christian population of Kerala at the beginning of the 19th century to be about 117,000iii On an average, the Christian population of Kerala grew by 2% per annum during the 19th century. As per the 1875 census, there were 590,000 Christians within the current Kerala State boundariesiv, which increased to 891,676 in 1901.

At the start of 2001, the Kerala Christian population was estimated ~ 6 million, ~18.6% of the total State population. During the one hundred years from 1901 to 2001, the Kerala Christian Population increased nearly 6.6 times, more than the 5 times the total State population grew by. During the 20th century, the Kerala Christian population growth rate was higher than the overall State population growth in every decade until about 1961. However, the Kerala Christian population has grown at a rate lower than the State population average after 1971, due to their rapid decline in fertility rates, as well as the high levels of out-migration and emigration.

Migration. While Census data do not provide information on migration by community, estimates suggest that Christians have the highest net out-migration rate among Kerala communities. The average net migration for the State was –2.8 persons per 1000 between 1991 and 2001. However, the net migration rate among Christians was as high as –5.2 persons per 1,000 populationv

Evidence also shows that the out-migration rate was the highest for the Syrian Christian Community vi Though large-scale emigration is a relatively new phenomenon for Kerala, out-migration to other states in India has a much longer history, with the Syrian Christians leading the way with the highest share among all Kerala communities. Syrian Christians are also in the forefront with respect to emigration to the US, making up about two-thirds of the State total.

Dispersion of Syrian Christians. Evidence suggests that the Syrian Christians have also become a more dispersed community than before, and has become an integral part of the Kerala Christian Diaspora. During the 19th century and much of the early 20th century, Syrian Christians lived in contiguous taluks (districts) of the Travancore and the Cochin States with a high degree of concentrationvii, engaged in their traditional occupations of agriculture and petty commerce, which did not force them to leave home. However, with increasing urbanization and globalization, pursuit of higher education and employment opportunities, migration has become a necessity. As a result, the Syrian Christians are currently dispersed all over the State, India, and the Worldviii.

Outcomes. K C Zachariah (2001) concludes that, notwithstanding the small size and the declining proportion of the Syrian Christian community, they had reached the top of the socio-economic ladder in Kerala. Christians had forged ahead of Kerala’s Hindu and Muslim communities w.r.t demographic transition, education, possession of land, housing, and consumer durables.

The current achievements of the Syrian Christian community may be juxtaposed to their condition about a hundred years ago, when they were a relatively backward community. As per the 1881 Cochin State census report, about 42% of the adult men of the community were laborers, 32% were cultivators, and 18% traders. Only about 0.33% of the Syrian Christian men were in Government service, with less than 0.50% of Syrian Christian men employed in the major professions of the time. Likewise, the 1891 Census Report for Travancore referred to the Syrian Christian community of the time as poor, with the churches in dilapidated conditions, and the priests receiving no regular salaries.

The key driver behind the success of the Syrian Christians community has been their educational achievements. Their close association with the Europeans, especially the British during the colonial period, has been a contributory factorix However, the Syrian Christian community could not have achieved the level of education without their own perseverance and efforts. The differential speed of demographic transition x and the higher rate of migration xi both linked to educational achievements in the Syrian Christian community have played a role as well.

Evidence from Kerala Migration Surveys. Since 1998, the Centre for Development Studies (CDS) has undertaken eight Kerala Migration Surveysxii . Over the years, the KMS has provided estimates of emigration, return emigration, out-migration, return out-migration, remittances, and the average costs of migration. The estimated emi- grants from Kerala from the different KMSs xiii are: 1.36 million in 1998, 1.84 million in 2003, 2.19 million in 2008, 2.40 million in 2014, 2.28 million in 2016, and 2.12 million in 2018xiv.

In their February 2010 analysisxv, Irudaya Rajan and K C Zachariah provided a useful analysis of the KMS findings during the first decade, 1998-2008. The analysis showed that emigration from Kerala increased rapidly at the start of the 1970s, with the Gulf countries as the principal destination. At the end of the first KMS decade in 2008, the principal destination of Kerala emigration remained the Gulf countries. In 1998, the Gulf countries were the destination for 93.9% of Kerala emigrants, which declined to 88.5% in 2008.

However, the KMS analysis also revealed important changes within the Gulf region as destinations for Kerala emigrants. While Saudi Arabia was the principal destination in 1998 accounting for 37.5% of Kerala emigrants the United Arab Emirates (UAE) emerged as the top destination in 2008 with 41.9% of Kerala emigrants, rising from 31% in 1998. As a result, the proportion of Kerala emigrants to Saudi Arabia declined to 26.7% in 2003 and 23% in 2008, though the total number of Kerala emigrants in Saudi Arabia remained stable.

In their January 2019 analysisxvi, Irudaya Rajan and K C Zachariah analyzed the findings of the 2018 KMSxvii that marked the 20th anniversary of KMS migration survey research at CDS (1998-2018). The Survey found that there were 2.12 million emigrants from Kerala across the world, 0.15 million lower than the 2016 KMS and 0.28 million lower than the 2013 KMS data.

The 2018 KMS also showed that top destination for Kerala emigrants continued to be the Gulf region with 89.2% slightly above the 88.5% share in 2008, albeit below the 93.9% share in 1998 with the remaining 10% concentrated in other countries like the USA, the UK, and Australia. Within the Gulf region, the UAE remained as the top destination for Kerala emigrants.

Overall, KMS 2018 confirmed the trend of the last ten years that emigration from Kerala is falling and return migration is on the rise. The long history of migration from Kerala to the Gulf seems to be entering its final phase. However, remittances had increased, since Kerala’s Gulf emigrants were earning higher wages and salaries, as well as due to the weakening of the Indian Rupee.

In their June 2020 paper referenced in footnote #12 above Justin Sunny and others also used the evidence from the eight Kerala Migration Surveys (1998-2018) to explore the interlinkages among remittance receipts, household-level investment and the changing emigration patterns in Kerala. The analysis found that remittances improved household per capita incomes and changed spending patterns, with a larger share of monthly income allocated for the consumption of non-food durable goods. Remittance also enabled households to save and invest more in assets, land and buildings, and human capital through increased spending on education and health. The analysis also found that the households which spent relatively more on educationxviii and health reported a relatively higher share of skilled emigration to the Global North or Oceania regions xix , rather than the traditional low-skilled Gulf emigrationxx Therefore, policies that support the new emigration patterns are likely to sustain the growth of remittances and support sustainable economic development in Kerala.

The evidence presented in this essay suggests that emigration and remittances may not play the same pivotal in Kerala’s economic development going forward, as they did earlier. Given the ongoing demographic transition, Kerala may not regain the erstwhile dominance in migration to the Gulf either. There has also been a diversification of the labor force in the Gulf countries from other Asian countries. However, skilled migration to the Global North and Oceania remains a distinct possibility for Kerala emigrants. However, growth and development of the domestic Kerala economy remains vital for sustainable development in the long-term. Currently, remittances account for ~20% of Kerala’s Net State Domestic Product (NSDP), as per the 2018 KMS.

Separately, the issue of in-migration into Kerala from other Indian States need to be reckoned with. It is estimated that there are ~3 million internal migrants in Kerala, from the states of West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. In-migration has been spurred by Kerala’s highest wage rates in the country for the unorganized sector.

As emphasized by Irudaya Rajan and K C Zachariah in their analysis of the 2018 Kerala Migration Survey, there are also issues stemming from migration-related changes to the State’s social fabric that must be contemplated. While the evidence showed that migration reduced income, wealth and socio-economic inequalities in Kerala earlier, and levelled class structures, social hierarchies and religion and caste differences, there is an emerging sense that that migration is widening these differences now.

Given these outstanding issues related to migration and remittances, the Government of Kerala’s decision to establish an endowment program on International Migration from Kerala at the CDS in 2019xxi, has been an important initiative. The research program will allow CDS to build on the pioneering work of Dr K C Zachariah and others through the Kerala Migration Surveys.

Another important initiative regarding migration research is the International Institute of Migration and Development (IIMAD), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, where Dr K C

Zachariah served as the Founder President (2019-2023), and his long-time collaborator, Professor Irudaya Rajan as the Founder Chair, following his retirement from CDSxxii.

From the standpoint of the Kerala Christian Diaspora, there are no dedicated academic and research institutions working on Diaspora issues, based on information available at the time of this essay. However, based on the estimates from the Kerala Migration Surveys for the 19982018 period, the share of Christians among the Kerala emigrants was 23.8% in 2018, nearly the same as the 23.6% in 2013. In terms of absolute numbers, there were 500, 236 Christian Kerala emigrants, compared to the 2013 figure of 571,799 in 1998. In turn, these figures may be regarded as estimates of the Kerala Christian Diaspora. KMS promises to be a useful database for undertaking more granular research on the Kerala Christian Diaspora in the future.

[1] Since 1998, the Kerala Migration Survey (KMS) undertaken by the Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala has become the definitive source of information for migration from Kerala, with updates undertaken every five years. KMS is based on a sample survey that collects information from over 10,000 randomly selected households from all districts and taluks of the state. See Irudaya Rajan and K C Zachariah (2020) for a detailed discussion of the 2018 KMS (Irudaya Rajan and K C Zachariah, “New Evidences from the Kerala Migration Survey, 2018”, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 55, Issue No. 4, 25 January, 2020).

[2] Dr K C Zachariah is the architect and visionary founder of the Kerala Migration Survey noted in fn#1 above which has attracted international attention and approval as the gold standard for migration surveys (https://blogs.worldbank.org/peoplemove/datamigration-governance-kerala-model). Dr Zachariah worked for the World Bank Group (1971-1989), United Nations (1966-1970), and the International Institute of Population Studies (IIPS, 1956-66), Mumbai; he has been recognized globally for suggesting July 11 as the World Population Day. Following his retirement from the World Bank Group, Dr Zachariah served as an Honorary Professor at the Centre for Development Studies (19892023), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Dr Zachariah also served as the founding first Vice President of the Mar Thoma Church of Greater Washington, Takoma Park, Maryland (https://www.marthomawashington.com/ourparish-history.html).

[3] http://14.139.171.199:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/21

9 (“THE SYRIAN CHRISTIANS OF KERALA: DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIOECONOMIC TRANSITION IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY”, KC Zachariah, Working

Paper No. 322, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, 2001).

[4] The Kerala State was established in 1956, combining the three distinct administrative areas of Travancore and Cochin States, and the Malabar district of the former Madras Presidency.

[5] As a result, the net population growth for Kerala Christians during 1991-2001 was 5.4 per 1000 population, given the birth rate of 16.7, death rate 6.1, and the net migration rate of –5.2. See Zachariah (2001), referenced in fn#2, for more details.

[6] K C Zachariah (2001) included following denominations in the Syrian Christian community: the RomoSyrians (the Jacobite or Orthodox Christians who became Roman Catholics under Portuguese influence), the Jacobite Syrians (the original Syrian Christians), the Reformed Syrians (Mar Thoma), and Protestant Syrians, etc.

[7] As per K C Zachariah (2001), based on the KMS evidence, more than 85% of the Syrian Christian population lived in the six central Kerala districts, from Pathanthitta to Thrissur.

[8] K C Zachariah (2001) estimated that nearly a quarter of the members of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church (https://marthoma.in/) lived outside Kerala; other Syrian Christian denominations were likely to have similar Diaspora presence outside the State.

[9] Christian Missionary Society (CMS) missionaries from Great Britain during the 19th century played a significant role in the reformation of the Syrian Christian Church at the time, which led to the formation of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church in 1889 (https://marthoma.in/the-church/heritage/).

[10] The Syrians Christians were quick to avail of the opportunities for birth control; as a result, fertility and mortality transition among them was more rapid than among the other communities. From a regime of the highest birth rate and the highest mortality rate at the beginning of the 19th century, the Syrian Christians reached a regime of the lowest birth and death rates among the Kerala communities at the turn of the 20th century. Their fertility had become below the replacement level.

[11] The Syrian Christians were not much of a migrating community before World War II. But after the Second World War, they became the major migrating community in Kerala. With their level of education and the limited employment opportunities within the state, migration became an opportunity for the cohort of young men and women born during the regime of high fertility. Other than the Muslims who migrated to the Islamic countries of the Middle East, no other community has had a migration rate higher than that of the Syrian Christians (the Muslims have a very low rate of migration to other states within India). The remittances and other benefits from the migration have played a major role in the economic progress of the Syrian Christian community. [12] https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/97

81351188753-18/kerala-migration-survey-2016-irudayarajan-zachariah (S. Irudaya Rajan and K. C. Zachariah, “Kerala Migration Survey 2016: New Evidences” in India Migration Report 2017: Forced Migration, Edited By S. Irudaya Rajan, Routledge India)

[13] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0972266

120932484 (“Remittances, Investment and New Emigration Trends in Kerala”, Justin Sunny, Jajati K. Parida and Mohammed Azurudeen, Review of Development and Change 25(1) 5–29, 2020). As stated in the article, the Kerala Migration Surveys details are as follows: 1998, KMS 1, sample size of 9,995 households; 2003, KMS 2, sample size of 10,012 households; 2007, KMS 3, sample size of 11,428 households; 2008, KMS 4, sample size of 14,000 households; 2011, KMS 5, sample size of 1,536 households; 2013, KMS 6, sample size of 14,577 households; 2016, KMS 7, sample size of 15,000 households; 2018, KMS 8, sample size of 15,000 households.

[14] The KMS estimates are made on the basis of answers to the following question: Has any person who was a usual resident of this household (HH) migrated out of Kerala and is still living outside India? Those who are still living outside India are called emigrants. Similarly, those who worked abroad and returned to Kerala are called return emigrants.

[15] https://www.mei.edu/publications/keralaemigrants-gulf (“Kerala Emigrants in the Gulf”, S. Irudaya Rajan and K. C. Zachariah, Middle East Institute, February 2, 2010)

[16]http://14.139.171.199:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789

/488 (“Emigration and remittances: New evidences from the Kerala Migration Survey, 2018”, S. Irudaya Rajan and K. C. Zachariah, Working Paper 483, Centre for De- velopment Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, January 2019)

[17] The 2018 KMS noted that due to the unprecedented deluge of August 2018 in Kerala, climate changeinduced migration had come to the forefront of public discourse.

[18] The distribution of emigrants by level of education shows that the share of emigrants with “up to secondary level of education” has been declining since 1998, from ~70% in 1998 to ~37% in 2018. In contrast, the share of emigrants with higher secondary or graduatelevel education increased during this period, from ~16% to ~60 per cent. The significant increase in educational achievement has been an outcome of Kerala’s Human Capital Investments over the years.

[19] The share of emigration towards Europe and the United States increased from 2.3% in 1998 to 7.2% in 2018. In addition, emigration to all other countries including Oceania and the African subcontinent increased from ~1% in 1998 to ~3.5% in 2018. The changing patterns in emigration destinations are also reflective of the upward mobility of the Kerala emigrants from low-skilled labor to skilled labor.

[20] The changing pattern of emigration is also reflected in the employment status of emigrants. While the share of emigrants engaged in casual labor activities including low-skilled technicians, drafters, salespersons, masons, plumbers, carpenters, waiters, cooks and other helpers has been declining since 1998, the share of regular official jobs including government employees and private professionals such as doctors, engineers, scientists, professors, lecturers, teachers, accountants, lawyers, architects and designers has been increasing. The percentage of emigrants engaged in casual labor has declined from ~44% in 1998 to ~12% in 2018. On the other hand, the percentage of emigrants working as nurses increased from 3% in 1998 to ~9% in 2018. Likewise, the percentage of emigrants engaged in highpaid occupations increased from ~40% in 1998 to ~52% in 2018.

[21] https://cds.edu/endowments/internationalmogration-from-kerala/. Four kinds of activities have been envisaged: (i) Conduct of research studies on topics that are required by the government; (ii) Organization of an annual training program on migration research; (iii) Creation and maintenance of a database on international migration; and (iv) An annual conference on “Kerala and the World Economy”

[22] https://iimad.org/about/. IIMAD is a Center for academic research devoted to all aspects of international migration, aspiring to create a platform for debate, research, policy analysis and community engagement on global, national and local scales.