Traditional choice Saudi Arabia drops to second place while Oman is third

  MUMBAI – The UAE is now the top choice of Indian job hunters among countries in the Middle East region, toppling Saudi Arabia. This was shown by emigration clearance records gathered by the Indian government in the first six months of the year, according to a Times of India report. The TOI said records showed that 74,778 Indians (or 40.6 percent) obtained emigration clearances for the UAE last January to June for employment purposes while only 32,995 (or 18 percent) migrated to Saudi Arabia for work. Saudi Arabia had led Gulf countries in past years when it comes to attracting Indian workers. Comparative figures for the first half of 2016 were unavailable. Oman came in third with 30,413 migrants – 16.5 percent of the total Gulf migration recorded from last January to June. Meanwhile, emigration clearance records also showed that Bihar edged out Uttar Pradesh as the leading source of labor in the first half of 2017. Bihar contributed 35,807 (or 19.5 percent) of the total migrants to the Gulf region while Uttar Pradesh sent 33,043 labor migrants (or 18 percent). In 2015, a total 7.58 lakh Indian migrants went to the Gulf, of which 31 percent came from Uttar Padesh while 14 percent were from Bihar. GAC/Expat Media