Kerala - Others   

Suicide rate high among expatriates

Gulfround-up Need for socio-psychological studies to look at the causes

Dubai: Rising suicide rate among Gulf-based Keralites, mainly due to long separation from families, has underlined the need for socio-psychological studies to look at the causes, according to an expert.

The suicide rate in the community is the highest in Bahrain. The situation is not so good in the the United Arab Emirates and Qatar either, N.P. Hafiz Mohamad, a sociology professor in Farook College, Kozhikode, has said.

``A sizeable population of Keralites based in the region are away from their wives and children, marital disputes due to prolonged separation of couples, and parents having to bring up their children in a nuclear family environment and later send them to India to stay in hostels, are major problems some of the community members face,'' he told the Peninsula.

The professor has said that in the absence of research-based studies it is difficult to identify the actual causes of the increasing rate of suicide among the Keralite community in the Gulf.

Back home in Kerala, an increasing number of married women whose husbands are based in the Gulf are falling prey to what is known as `Gulf Syndrome.'

One of the syndrome's prime symptoms is chronic depression due to prolonged separation from the spouse, Mr. Hafiz Mohamad said.

Fight in labour camp

Following a fight between Indian and Egyptian workers over water, a construction company has decided to shift 300 Egyptians to another labour camp in order to avert further confrontation, a senior official of Al Hamed Constructions has said that it has taken on rent another labour camp at a cost of Dhs.1.25 million (Rs.15.75 million) to house the Egyptians.

The police had arrested three Indians and an equal number of Egyptians on Tuesday following the fight over cold drinking water at the labour accommodation, reports said. The labour camp in the sprawling industrial suburbs of Jebel Ali housed 1,900 Indian and Egyptian workers. Following the clash, the workers blocked the main arterial Sheikh Zayed road, causing massive traffic pile up. The Indian workers said they did not intend to stay with the Egyptians any longer. — PTI and UNI

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