Migration networks are opportunity networks, they are sources of sustenance when the well at home dry out. For states such as Punjab and Kerala it is a way of life, yet wealthier states like Gujarat also are sending states, as i have met many Gujaratis working in Indian Restaurants all over Singapore including this week. Ultimately it is a need based business, and countries like the Philippines and Bangladesh have mastered the many corridors.

The pic below at Lucky Plaza at Orchard Road, Singapore exemplifies ‘Migration Infrastructure’ in the words of (Xiao and Lindquist, 2013) as ones which support the life worlds of Migration, which support productivity and opportunity across migration corridors. It is not poverty porn as many an activist or scholar might have portrayed in literature. Many of these FDWs have college degrees. And might not fit the fundraising pitch of deprivation. And they are middle class at home.

It’s more textured than it meets the eye, let’s get a nuanced view of the human lens of the migration supply chains.