In Undocumented, Rejimon Kuttappan, a veteran campaigner for migrant rights, provides a gripping and heartbreaking account of the lives of Indian migrants to the Gulf, and the numerous personal and legal hardships they face. From visa struggles to the crushing weight of societal expectations, the suffering recounted in this book is immense, and should concern every Indian deeply.

This book is written with great clarity, taking the reader along with the many varied journeys of Keralite migrants to Oman. It shows how the marginalization of migrants is intensified by those who are undocumented, whether by design, bastardry, serendipity, or fate. Note, however, that book is more than a collection of migrant stories, which alone are fascinating, heart-rending accounts. Importantly, the book is also about migration journalism. It is also about the author as an investigative journalist, an activist journalist; a caring, humanitarian journalist, committed and determined to reveal the underbelly of this migration corridor that suppresses the truth about migrant labour exploitation and tragedy. Thus, the author does not pretend to be an invisible, arm's-length narrator. Throughout the text he explains and reflects not only upon his own actions and the help he gives to his informants as a participant activist observer, but also on the limitations and liberations of journalism in the region. The author skillfully juxtaposes the individual narratives with the political, economic, and cultural histories that have connected Kerala and Oman for millennia. Deceived and trapped by the kafala system, these are narratives of hardship, mistakes, homesickness, separated families, longing and guilt, struggle, disappointment, and family rejection. There is the gripping story of Majeed's escape, the sham and violent marriage of Jumaila, the dangerous rescue of Sushmitha. Exposing an entrenched culture of corruption, there is Appunni, who stuck to his moral principles and "lost everything." There is the trafficking and enslavement of women, the little-known Arab Spring protests in Oman and the country's long history of rebellions; the Covid-19 pandemic resulting in employer wage theft, illness and death, and forced repatriation home to unemployment and poverty. Fraternizing with progressive Omani nationals and wending his way through local cultural mores, these are rich ethnographies like a gripping mini-series. And then there are the "monkey visas" and the wisdom to see humour in the face of tragedy that elaborates the human experience.

As a storyteller, Rejimon Kuttappan takes us into the world of migrant workers whose lives are turned upside down as they deal with the status of being "undocumented". He reveals throughout the book how an "undocumented status" is constructed in migration management systems that thrive on the exploitation of labour. He tells of the power of resilience of migrant workers who go through untold challenges to make a living. Artfully, he makes the reader put down the book several times and pick it up again each time while reflecting on the power dynamics, the inequalities, and the systemic and structural deficits that have plagued labour for the longest time. In the end, the story is about heroes who despite the odds survive, and in telling their stories Rejimon Kuttappan captures the indefatigable spirit of the undocumented.

Rejimon Kuttappan is an independent journalist and a migrant rights defender. He was Chief Reporter for the Times of Oman until he was deported back to India in 2017, for exposing human trafficking and modern slavery in the Arab Gulf through a front-page news story.

Rejimon now writes for the Thomson Reuters Foundation (TRF), Equal Times, Migrant Rights, Middle East Eye, The Hindu, Times of India, The Caravan, Wire, The Leaflet, and various other Indian news portals.

He has done two media fellowships with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on labour migration and human trafficking, and one each with TRF and National Foundation of India (NFI) on forced labour and Gulf migration, respectively.

Rejimon is also a researcher for the Migrant Forum in Asia and has worked as a consultant for the ILO and International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

In 2019, he authored an anthology, Rowing Between Rooftops: The Heroic Fishermen of Kerala Floods, telling the stories of heroic fishermen who rescued thousands from the 2018 Kerala floods.

Rejimon belongs to the Panan Dalit community of Kerala. Historically, Panans were ballad singers who narrated the acts of the then great warriors and kings. He wishes to continue this storytelling legacy through his books and writing.

Rejimon lives in Kerala and can be followed on @rejitweets. He can be contacted at [email protected]