Persons of Indian Origin and Indians in Portugal

A sketch

The ethnic Indian community and Indians in Portugal together would number aproximately around 60,000; 7000 of whom are likely to be holding Indian Passport. They are mostly concentrated in Lisbon and Porto.
Other parts of Portugal: Algarve, Leiria, Coimbra, Guarda, etc are also home to some of them.


A social profile

     1. Gujaratis
- Who came from Mozambique after 1974 following the end of Portuguese rule.
- Who came from India in the 1980’s and 1990’s and are still coming.

     2. Goans
- Who came to Portugal exactly after 1961
- Who came from Mozambique after 1974
- Who came to Portugal as late as 1990’s taking advantage of Portugal’s liberal immigration policy - Granting of nationality to kith and kin of people who where Portuguese subjects. This migratory movement is still on.

     3. Daman & Diu
- Who came to Portugal after 1961 or little before.
- The later entrants.

     4. Punjabis – a recent phenomena.


Gujaratis

a) The Gujaratis who came to Portugal after the end of Portuguese rule in Mozambique have done exceedingly well for themselves. Almost all of them are Portuguese citizens and speak Portuguese. However, the community language predominantly happens to be Gujarati. Gujarati is taught at the Hindu Community Cultural Centre. The identity bond between the various sections of this branch of Gujaratis, inspite of being communally organized, happens to be very strong. Most of them are engaged in trade and commerce, manufacturing sector , aviation , apparel and hotel industry, export - import and retail businesses. These people have maintained links with India.

b) The ‘Mozambique’ Gujaratis facilitated the immigration of a newer stream of Gujaratis who came in 1980’s and 1990’s directly from India. Some also came from England , Madagascar and South Africa. The archetypal community network of the Gujaratis sustained this movement. While some of these members have big businesses running, a majority of them own shops - grocery, clothes, electronics, furniture etc..

Goans

a) A portion of ethic Indian Goans, who formed the elite in Goa , migrated to Portugal after Goa was liberated in1961.This class of Goans did not encounter much problem in getting assimilated in the new socio-economic structure by virtue of their strengths.

b) After the withdrawal of the Portuguese from Mozambique a sizeable number of Goans came over to Portugal. These people had been manning various beauracratic posts in Mozambique.

The latest stream of migrants from Goa started coming to Portugal in 1990’s.This, however, is not to suggest that people did not migrate in the period between 1960-1980’s. These are mostly educated youths, kith and kin of persons who were once Portuguese subjects, aspiring for better economic opportunities and standard of living. The opening up of Portuguese Consulate in Goa in1991 facilitated this movement and in turn made it more organized. It is worthwhile to note that accepting people on the basis of State - relations that once existed is unparalleled in the history or working of any Colonial power in the World.

These people form part of the employed class and speak Portuguese and English. Majority of them hold Portuguese passport but few still have Indian nationality.

Daman and Diu

a) Negligible number of people (of ethnic Indian origin) from these two non- contiguous ex-portuguese enclaves came over to Portugal after 1961 or little before . But some of the Gujaratis - Hindus & Muslims - surely took advantage and went over to Mozambique.

b) Taking advantage of the Portuguese Immigration Laws for their ex- subjects, a steady inflow of people from Daman and Diu has taken place in recent years. They are mostly young people. Once a person got settled , he tries getting over other members of the family. They own shops and do odd jobs as well. A sizeable number of them are Indian passport holders but increasingly they are renouncing Indian citizenship.


Punjabis

The most recent inflow of Indians in Portugal is that of youths from Punjab. Portugal became a destination for the Punjabi youths beginning in1996 when the EU funds started flowing in leading to a spurt in construction Industry. Most of the youths work on construction sites. A number of them have opened restaurants, introducing hitherto absent Indian food to the Portuguese, and work in stores and agricultural plantations. Some have shown greater entrepreneurial skills and have opened small firms for subcontract business-plumbing, electrical services, painting, repairs etc..
Most of them hold Indian passports and are concentrated in Lisbon and its suburbs but are mobile and travel all over Portugal for work.

A small organized sikh community has come up in Guarda, in north - central Portugal. These immigrants have acquired functional knowledge of Portuguese and are thus better integrated into the local society.