The Department of History, School of Social Sciences, University of Hyderabad (UoH) organized a two-day international conference on Migration Brokerage in South Asia: Contexts, Assemblages and Discontents at the Conference Hall of School of Social Sciences on 20th and 21st February 2025. The conference was organized under the aegis of the ‘Brokering Mobility’ project, supported by the Institution of Eminence (IoE) fund at the University of Hyderabad (UoH). The conference brought together a set of novel and ongoing researches on migration brokerage involving South Asian emigrants, examining its networks, operations and infrastructure across sending, transit and destination locations, both in historical and contemporary settings. The papers presented in the conference foregrounded the figure of broker and the practices of brokerage in the migration industry from diverse contexts in South Asia, rather than seeing transnational migration as a self-perpetuating phenomenon.
The conference commenced with a welcome address by Prof. Suchandra Ghosh, the Head of the Department of History. She thanked the Vice Chancellor, the Dean and the Director of IoE for the constant support given to the Department for all its activities under the IoE. Dr. V.J. Varghese, the coordinator of the conference and the principal investigator of the ‘Brokering Mobility’ project introduced the concept of the conference and stressed upon the need to explore and understand the range of intermediations and players involved in facilitating transnational migrations. Prof. M. Ghanashyam Krishna, Director of the Institution of Eminence at the University of Hyderabad, inaugurated the conference. He reiterated the commitment of IoE to fund innovative research projects, apart from presenting diverse initiatives undertaken and supported by the IoE aimed at enhancing the university’s academic growth and visibility. Prof. Sujith Kumar Parayil proposed the vote of thanks in the inaugural session.
The first technical session of the conference was chaired by Prof. Anindita Mukhopadhyay, Professor at the Department of History. Dr. Ritesh Kumar Jaiswal from the University of Delhi, presented his paper on intermediaries and system of intermediations in trans-colonial migrations from India to Ceylon. The paper called for a shift in focus from Indian migration in the Indian Ocean to the Bay of Bengal, and from indentured to ‘free’ labour migrations. He analyzed the working of Kangani and Tundu systems and their impact on mobility patterns and experiences in migrations which was as a form of “mediated mobility” entailing indebtedness. Dr. Muhammed Shafeeq Karinkurayil from the Manipal Academy of Higher Education, explored the depiction of brokers in the Malayalam cinema of the 1980s. According to him the ‘broker block’ invisibilised the Gulf in the Malayalam cinema at the height of migrations to the Gulf, but opened up other spaces than the Gulf into the screen space of Malayalam cinema. Prof. Jeevan R. Sharma from the University of Edinburgh, offered historical and ethnographic insights into Nepal’s migration brokerage, addressing the emergence of ethical recruitment trends. He discussed brokers’ visibility during crises and examined Nepal’s migration waves, emphasizing its economic significance in the country’s remittance-driven economy. He also analyzed how formal and informal agents operate within a morally ambiguous space, shaped by complex regulatory systems and complicity with the state.
The keynote speaker Prof. Priya Deshingkar, from the Sussex Centre for Migration Research at University of Sussex, mapped the emerging issues of migration brokerage in the contemporary context of tightening border control by looking at the migration corridors of Bangladesh-Qatar and Myanmar-Singapore, entailing labour and domestic workers’ migration respectively. She discussed the moral and ethical dimensions of brokerage, particularly the gendered norms when it comes to the migration of female domestic workers. She called for policy measures to address irregular migration by understanding the complexity of migration brokerage which creates risks as well as opportunities for the migrants. The session was chaired by Prof. K.K. Kailash, Head of the Department of Political Science, University of Hyderabad.
The day concluded with the presentation of Dr. Leone Michelini from the University of Messina, Italy, on religious brokerage in Sicily in facilitating migration of care workers from Kerala to Italy. The paper explored how the Catholic Church’s “selective solidarity” influenced migrant recruitment and how it became an agent of brokerage, shaping internal community dynamics and distinctions based on race. This session was chaired by Prof. Bhangya Bhukya, Professor at the Department of History.
The first session on the second day of the conference was chaired by Prof. Aparna Rayaprol, Professor at the Sociology Department, UoH. Dr. Anushyama Mukherjee, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Xavier’s College, Kolkata and Shairud Bham, a Masters student from the same college, presented their paper on the role of migration agents, both registered and unregistered in Kolkata, facilitating migration to the Gulf States. The study shifts focus from migrants to the often-overlooked struggles of agents, revealing the advantages of their presence as well as their precarious position within the migration system. Dr. Sanam Roohi, Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Internet Studies, Bochum, Germany, presented on how Rayalaseema migrants navigate Kuwait’s visa system using social connections and phatic labour, which proved be central in the production of migrant knowledge and mobility capital. She highlights the historical evolution of this migration corridor, the role of informal networks, and the persistence of brokers despite tightening of control.
The next panel was chaired by Prof. Ajailiu Niumai, Professor at CSSEIP, UoH. Dr. Arokkiaraj Heller from the Department of Social Work at the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Tamil Nadu, discussed the complex structures influencing the migration of Indian medical students to Russia, Ukraine and Germany. His paper focused on the role of recruitment agencies, the diversity of experiences and practices in the three corridors discussed and showed how students themselves became intermediaries in cases like that of educational migration to Germany. Dr. David Sancho from the College of Interdisciplinary Studies, Zayed University, Dubai, presented his research on student’s experiences with educational consultancies in the UAE, focusing on their growing institutionalized role in the transnational education mobilities, based on ethnographic research conducted in Dubai among students and parents. The paper highlighted the areas of mismatching expectations and the agency of students in navigating the intermediary spaces though independent research, negotiation and alternative strategies.
Afternoon session started with a presentation from Dr. Radha Adhikari from the School of Health and Life Sciences, University of the West of Scotland. Her research paper examined the International Educational Consultancies (IECs) in Nepal, highlighting their role in brokering nurse and care worker migration, particularly to the UK. It explored how IECs act as cultural translators while also creating a complex and sometimes exploitative system, raising ethical concerns and the need for better governance. Dr. V.J. Varghese and Nagaraju Battini, a Research Associate from the UoH, presented a joint paper out of their research as part of the ‘Brokering Mobility’ project. The paper highlighted the mismatch between the prevailing social consciousness about migration brokers and the actually existing practices and life-worlds of brokers. Juxtaposing the representation of brokers in the Telugu short-stories of Peddinti Ashok with their ethnographic study in Baswapur village, the paper highlighted the social sanction enjoyed by migration brokerage in rural Telangana. The culture of migration brokerage not only showed remarkable fluidity and resourcefulness in conflict resolution but also facilitated remarkable socio-economic mobility for lower castes despite illegalizing sub-agents. This panel was chaired by Dr. Nisha Mary Mathew, Associate Professor at Mahindra University, Hyderabad.
The final session of the conference was chaired by Prof. Ajay Kumar Sahoo, Professor at the Centre for Diaspora Studies, UoH, and three senior doctoral research scholars from the Department of History presented papers from their ongoing research. Ms. Jiji K V presented on the changing portrayal of migration agents in Malayalam cinema of the pre-1980s, the 1980s and the post-1990s periods, and historicized the changing trajectory of representation. Mr. Shakti Rajwar used the realm of annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj) during the late 19th & early 20th century from the princely state of Hyderabad to unravel the involvement of a variety of intermediaries and facilitators in the pilgrimage by drawing from state archival records. These go-between players mediated between the pilgrims, the state/s, community, transport and shopping companies, and more. Dr. Suman Kumari, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at ICSSR, concluded the panel by her paper that highlighted the experiences of migrants from north India to overseas British colonies by looking at the representation of their life in the Hindi print media of the early twentieth century. The paper focused on migrant narratives, women’s experiences, and deceptive recruitment practices of agents as found expression in the Hindi public sphere.
The conference earned its distinction with high quality papers, rigour, enthusiastic participation from students and faculty members and impeccable organization. Each session engendered engaging discussions with inquisitive students and faculty posing critical questions and comments. Dr. Salah Punathil, Prof. Jeevan Sharma, Dr. Nisha Mary Mathew, Prof. Aparna Rayaprol, Dr. Sanam Roohi, Dr. Mohamed Shafeeq Karinkurayil and Dr. Ritesh Kumar Jaiswal acted as discussants to different sessions and enriched the discussions through their well-thought-out and insightful interventions. The conference came to a close with Ms. Mimansa Sharma, a Doctoral research scholar from the Department of History, extending gratitude to everyone concerned – the esteemed speakers, the University of Hyderabad and the Hon. Vice Chancellor, IoE and the Director, Dean of School of Social Sciences, Head and teachers of the Department of History, all the student volunteers who worked hard to make the event successful, and all who participated in the conference enthusiastically.
Contributed by: Titas Sarkar and Aparna H (Doctoral Research Scholars, Department of History, School of Social Sciences).