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India Migration Report 2018

India Migration Report 2018 looks at Indian migrants in Europe and their
lived experiences. It looks at how over the last few decades, the European
Union has emerged as the preferred destination for Indian migrants surpassing
the United States of America – and is home to Indian students and high-skilled
professionals ranging from engineers to medical graduates, contributing to
the economy and society both at the countries of origin and destination.
The chapters in the volume look at a host of themes and issues, including
agreements India has signed with the EU, the Blue Card, the impact of Brexit
and the plight of unskilled workers.
The volume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of development
studies, economics, sociology and social anthropology and migration studies.

S. Irudaya Rajan is Professor at the Centre for Development Studies,

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. With more than three decades of research
experience in Kerala, he has coordinated seven major migration surveys (1998,
2003, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2014 and 2016) in Kerala (with Professor K. C.
Zachariah), led the migration surveys in Goa (2008) and Tamil Nadu (2015),
and provided technical support to the Gujarat Migration Survey (2010) and
Punjab Migration Survey (2011). He has published extensively in national
and international journals on demographic, social, economic, political and
psychological implications of international migration. Professor Rajan is
currently engaged in several projects on international migration with the
New York University, UAE Exchange Centre, India Centre for Migration of
the Ministry of External Affairs, International Labour Migration and World
Bank. He worked closely with the erstwhile Ministry of Overseas Indian
Affairs, Government of India, Department of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs
(NORKA), Government of Kerala and Kerala State Planning Board. He is
currently co-chairing the working group on NORKA for the 13th five-year
plan (2017–2022) of Kerala State Planning Board, Government of Kerala and
is initiating the Kerala Migration Survey 2018, funded by the Department
of NORKA, Government of Kerala. He is editor of the two Routledge series
India Migration Report (annual) since 2010 and South Asia Migration Report
(biennial) since 2017 and the founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal Migration
and Development.
India Migration Report
Editor: S. Irudaya Rajan
Centre for Development Studies,
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

This annual series strives to bring together international networks

of migration scholars and policy-makers to document and discuss
research on various facets of migration. It encourages interdisciplinary
commentaries on diverse aspects of the migration experience and con-
tinues to focus on the economic, social, cultural, ethical, security, and
policy ramifications of international movements of people.

India Migration Report 2013

Social Costs of Migration

India Migration Report 2014

Diaspora and Development

India Migration Report 2015

Gender and Migration

India Migration Report 2016

Gulf Migration

India Migration Report 2017

Forced Migration

India Migration Report 2018

Migrants in Europe

India Migration Report 2019

Diaspora in Europe

For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com

India Migration
Report 2018
Migrants in Europe

Edited by S. Irudaya Rajan

First published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an
informa business
© 2019 selection and editorial matter, S. Irudaya Rajan;
individual chapters, the contributors
The right of S. Irudaya Rajan to be identified as the author of
the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual
chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and
78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be
trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for
identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library
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ISBN: 978-1-138-49816-7 (hbk)
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Dedicated to the memory of my teachers at International
Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai
Professor Malini Karkal
Professor Asha Bhende
Professor Tara Kanitkar
Contents

List of figuresx
List of tablesxiii
Notes on contributorsxvi
Prefacexix
Acknowledgementsxxiv

1 The European Union as a preferred destination for

Indian migrants? Prospects, patterns, policies and
challenges 1
ALI MEHDI, DIVYA CHAUDHRY, PALLAVI JOSHI AND
PRIYANKA TOMAR

2 Social security agreements (SSAs) in practice: evidence

from India’s SSA with countries in Europe 31
ATUL KUMAR TIWARI, DHANANJAY GHEI AND PRERNA GOEL

3 “Blue Card”: a comment on the EU’s preferential

immigration visa for attracting human capital vis-à-
vis its own multilateral conundrum 56
BINOD KHADRIA

4 Short-term visa requirements for Indian nationals in

the European Union 62
S. IRUDAYA RAJAN

5 Social security benefits of Indian migrants in Europe:

loss or win situation in case of return? 73
PAULINE MELIN
viii Contents
6 Challenges and opportunities for the Indian migrants
in the EU: in the context of EU enlargement and Brexit 87
PUJA GUHA

7 Migration of Indian health professionals to the

European Union: an analysis of policies and patterns 108
AYONA BHATTACHARJEE

8 Brexit: did a perceived threat of immigrants divide

a country? 128
S. IRUDAYA RAJAN AND NIKHIL PANICKER

9 The new student migration regime: enhanced

opportunities for Indian nationals seeking to study in
the European Union? 160
ALEXANDER HOOGENBOOM

10 Have the “London dreams” of Indian doctors come

to an end? 175
BASANT POTNURU AND BINOD KHADRIA

11 Indians in Italy 192

BARBARA BERTOLANI

12 Trafficking and exploitation of Indian labourers in Italy 209

MARCO OMIZZOLO AND PINA SODANO

13 Skilled migration and the IT sector: a gendered analysis 229

GUNJAN SONDHI, PARVATI RAGHURAM, CLEM HERMAN AND
ESTHER RUIZ BEN

14 “Being Indian” in the city of Oxford 249

SHAHANA PURVEEN

15 Mechanisms triggering Indian students to the UK 260

TILOTAMA PRADHAN

16 When international migration is a failure: Panjabi

undocumented migrants in France 275
CHRISTINE MOLINER
 Contents ix
17 All about my skills, not me or mine: vignettes of
precarity among skilled Indian professionals in the UK 280
SHOBA ARUN

18 Experiences of Indian “bachelors” in the Gulf 294

S. IRUDAYA RAJAN, CHITRA RANGANATHAN AND
SREELAKSHMI RAMACHANDRAN

19 Impact of migration on contemporary demographic

transformation in Kerala 304
S. IRUDAYA RAJAN AND K. C. ZACHARIAH

20 Out-migration and its economic impact on

households in Tamil Nadu 314
S. AMUTHAN

Index331
Figures

1.1 India–EU trade flows and balance (USD millions),

1990–20162
1.2 Prime workforce (25–49 years), in thousands (n) and
as percentage of total population (%), EU-28 and
India, 1950–2040 3
1.3 Remittances received by India from major source
countries, 2016 4
1.4 Indian migrants by region of destination, 2015 6
1.5 Top five EU countries with the highest stock of Indian
migrants, 2015 6
1.6 First permits (12 months or over) issued to Indian
citizens by EU-28 8
1.7 Employment growth (%) in the EU by sectors,
2015–202510
1.8 Flow of tertiary level students from India to major
destination countries, 2014–2015 19
2.1 India’s total trade with Belgium, Germany, the
Netherlands and Switzerland versus CoCs issued 38
2.2 CoCs issued to different age groups 44
2.3 CoCs issued according to their validity duration 45
2.4 CoCs issued in various regions of India 45
2.5 Percentage of emigrants with CoCs 46
6.1 Phases of abolition of labour mobility restrictions by
EU-15 countries 90
6.2 Change in the immigration inflow of Indian migrants
to selected EU-15 countries, 1996–2009 96
6.3 Year-to-year growth in the inflows of India migrants
to EU-15 countries (%) 97
7.1 Distribution of physicians by age groups in the EU
(2015 or nearest year) 109
 Figures xi
7.2 Percentage stock of foreign-trained doctors and
nurses in 2016 (or nearest year) 111
7.3 Remuneration of salaried and self-employed general
practitioners (in 1,000 USD PPP) during 2015
(nearest year) 117
7.4 Remuneration (in 1,000 USD PPP) of salaried
specialists (Panel A) and salaried hospital nurses
(Panel B) 118
7.5 Composition of the stock of foreign-trained doctors
in UK in 2015 and 2016 120
7.6 Composition of the stock of foreign-trained nurses in
UK in 2015 and 2016 120
7.7 Annual inflow of doctors and nurses in the UK
from India 121
8.1 Long-term international migration to and from the
UK, 1964–2016 133
8.2 Long-term international migration to and from the
UK, Dec 2007–June 2017 134
8.3 EU net migration to the UK by citizenship, Dec
2007–June 2017 136
8.4 EU immigrants by nationality, UK, 2015 139
8.5 Estimates of the non-UK-born resident population of
the UK by country of birth, 2005–2016 140
8.6 Immigration to the UK by main reason for
migration, 2009–2017 142
8.7 Long term non-EU international immigration for
study, UK, 1991–2016 150
8.8 Immigration for study and emigration of former
student immigrants, non-EU nationals, UK, 1991–2016 151
8.9 Student migrants entering the UK by nationality,
1991–2016152
8.10 Nationality of students and their dependents entering
the UK by world region, 2004–2015 152
8.11 Shares of student migrants entering the UK by sex,
1991–2015154
8.12 Visas granted to Indian students, UK, 2006–2017 156
10.1 Registered doctors (stock) in the UK by primary
medical qualification, 1980–2014 177
10.2 Top-10 countries’ doctors registered in the UK,
1996–2014179
10.3 FMGs stock from top-10 countries in the NHS,
1997–2016180
xii Figures
10.4 Top-10 countries’ annual inflow of doctors to the
UK, 2000–2016 184
11.1 Percentage distribution of Indian residents in Italian
regions at 31 December 2015 195
19.1 Age-specific marital fertility rate of currently married
women among migrant and non-migrant households,
2013–2014308
19.2 Currently married women who have one or two
children and were sterilised by household type 308
Tables

1.1 Top five EU-28 countries which issued first permits

(12 months or over) to Indian citizens for education
and remunerated activities 9
1.2 EU legislations facilitaing labour mobility 11
1.3 Student mobility agreements between India and
select EU MS 17
2.1 Social security savings 36
2.2 Countries having SSAs with India 40
2.3 Provisions in Indian SSAs 42
2.A Social security schemes covered under SSAs 51
4.1 Number of Indian emigrants in European Union countries 64
4.2 Citizenship granted to Indians as first residence permit
in the EU-28 and main EU member states by reasons,
201565
4.3 Citizenships granted to Indians in EU countries, 2015 67
6.1 Change in the inflow of migrants from NMS in
selected EU-15 countries pre- and post-enlargement,
1995–2009 (in thousands) 91
6.2 Inflow of population with Indian citizenship in the
EU-15 countries (in thousands) 94
6.3 Top-10 migrant sending countries, based on the
National Insurance Number in UK, 2002–2007 (in
thousands)98
6.4 Immigrants from NMS and India to selected EU
countries, by education 99
6.5 Immigrants from NMS and India to selected EU
countries, by sector of employment 100
6.6 Quarterly job vacancy rate in the UK 102
6.7 Entry visa and residence certificates granted to Indian
and Polish nationality 103
xiv Tables
6.8 Inflow of population with Indian citizenship in the
new member states 105
7.1 Annual inflow of the number of India-trained
doctors in some EU countries 119
7.2 Annual inflow of the number of India-trained nurses
in the EU 119
8.1 Change in net migration to the UK, YE June 2016 to
YE June 2017 135
8.2 EU and non-EU migration to the UK, June 2016–
2017 (in thousands) 137
8.3 Share of immigrants in the UK by countries of birth
and citizenship, 2016 141
8.4 Work-related visa grants by category, UK, YE
September 2016 and YE September 2017 143
8.5 UK and non-UK employment, unemployment and
economic inactivity estimates from the Labour Force
Survey, July to September 2017 145
8.6 Education and immigrant status (working-age
population), UK, 2015 145
8.7 Employment, unemployment, students and economic
inactivity by immigrant status (working-age
population), UK, 2015 145
8.8 Study-related visas granted, excluding short-term
students, September 2016–2017 153
9.1 Review of articles on student migration envisaged in
the European Union directives 166
11.1 Percentage distribution of Indian residents in Italian
regions at 31 December 2015 193
11.2 Percentage of Indian residents on total foreigners
in 2015 194
11.3 Percentage distribution of Indian residents in
principal Italian regions in 2002 and 2015 194
11.4 Percentage increase of Indian residents in some
Italian regions in 2010 and 2015 195
11.5 Indian residents in 2010 and 2015: percentage
distribution of men and women in some Italian regions 196
13.1 Age groupings of Indian migrants residing in the UK 234
13.2 Marital status 235
13.3 Indian migrants residing in the UK with children 236
13.4 Parents’ university educational attainment 237
13.5 Mothers’ university educational attainment 237
13.6 Parents’ occupation 237
 Tables xv
13.7 Career level of Indian migrants residing in the UK 238
13.8 Professional motivations to work abroad 239
13.9 Personal motivations to work abroad 239
13.10 Previous migration experience 240
13.11 Job roles on international assignment 241
13.12 Most common purpose for travel for work 242
13.13 Duration of international assignment for women 242
13.14 Duration of international assignment for men 243
13.15 Impact of international mobility on professional
and personal development 243
15.1 Number of Indian students in the UK 2009–2016 265
19.1 Number of currently married women who have
male children only or female children only and had
completed their fertility 310
19.2a Pearson correlation: migrant households 311
19.2b Pearson correlation: non-migrant households 311
20.1 Total migrants in Tamil Nadu and percentage of
total migrants to total population from 1991 to
2011 census 315
20.2 Selected demographic profile of migrants 318
20.3 Migrants’ remittances 320
20.4 Descriptive statistics of skilled and income of first
migrants321
20.4.1 ANOVA for skilled and income of first migrants 322
20.4.2 Post hoc multiple comparisons of skilled and
income for first migrants 323
20.4.3 Homogeneous subsets of skilled and income level 324
20.5 Evaluation of mean and standard deviations of
standard of living before and after migration by
selected variables 325
20.5.1 Paired sample statistics for standard of living of
migrants’ households before and after migration 326
Contributors

S. Amuthan is Researcher at the Centre for Development Studies, Ker-

ala, India.
Shoba Arun is with the Department of Sociology, Manchester Metro-
politan University, United Kingdom.
Esther Ruiz Ben is Lecturer, Institute of Sociology of Techonology and
Innvoation, Techincal University, Berlin.
Barbara Bertolani is Adjunct Professor at the University of Molise,
Italy.
Ayona Bhattacharjee is Assistant Professor in Economics at the Inter-
national Management Institute, Delhi, India.
Divya Chaudhry is Research Associate at the Indian Council for
Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi, India.
Dhananjay Ghei is Researcher with the National Institute of Public
Finance and Policy, Delhi, India.
Prerna Goel is Researcher with the National Institute of Public Finance
and Policy, Delhi, India.
Puja Guha is Assistant Professor at the School of Development, Azim
Premji University, Bengaluru, India.
Clem Herman is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Computing and
Communications, The Open University, United Kingdom.
Alexander Hoogenboom is Scientific Coordinator at the Institute
for Transnational and Euregional Cross-border Cooperation and
Mobility (ITEM) and Researcher at the Faculty of Law, Maastricht
University, Netherlands.
Pallavi Joshi is Research Associate at the Indian Council for Research
on International Economic Relations, New Delhi, India.
 Contributors xvii
Binod Khadria is Professor of Education and Economics at the Zakir
Husain Centre for Educational Studies, School of Social Sciences,
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.
Ali Mehdi is Senior Fellow at the Indian Council for Research on
International Economic Relations, New Delhi, India.
Pauline Melin is Doctoral Candidate at the Faculty of Law, Maastricht
University, The Netherlands.
Christine Moliner is Lecturer at the Department of Global Communi-
cation at the American University of Paris, France.
Marco Omizzolois President of the Tempi Moderni (www.tempi-
moderni.net)Centre for Studies in Communications and Scientific
Research and is Technical Director of In Migrazione and head coor-
dinator of the coop. Prior to this, he was a visiting professor at the
Guru Nanak University and the Lovely University, India.
Nikhil Panicker is Researcher at the Centre for Development Studies,
Trivandrum, India.
Basant Potnuru is Associate Professor, Economics and Business Policy,
FORE School of Management, New Delhi, India.
Tilotama Pradhan is Doctoral Candidate, Department of Sociology,
University of Essex, United Kingdom.
Shahana Purveen is an ICDD doctoral researcher at the School of
Social Science, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India. As
a part of her PhD programme, she visited COMPAS, University of
Oxford, United Kingdom.
Parvati Raghuram is Professor of Geography and Migration at the
Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, The Open University, United
Kingdom.
S. Irudaya Rajan is Professor at the Centre for Development Studies,
Kerala, India.
Sreelakshmi Ramachandran is researcher at the Centre for Develop-
ment Studies, Kerala, India.
Chitra Ranganathan is Post-Doctoral Fellow of the Indian Council for
Social Science Research at Department of Sociology, University of
Kerala, India.
Pina Sodano is Professor in the Department of Political Sciences at the
Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Rome, Italy.
xviii Contributors
Gunjan Sondhi is research associate with the Department of Geogra-
phy with the Open University, United Kingdom.
Atul Kumar Tiwari is Resident Commissioner of Karnataka Bhavan,
Delhi, India. Prior to this, he was Joint Secretary at the Ministry of
Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India.
Priyanka Tomar is Research Associate at the Indian Council for
Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi, India.
K. C. Zachariah is Honorary Professor at the Centre for Development
Studies, Kerala, India.
Preface

It is my pleasure to introduce the ninth edition of the India Migra-

tion Report, which focuses on migration to Europe. With reference
to the European Refugee Crisis and Brexit and other recent interna-
tional events, this volume also inquires into issues faced by migrants
in Europe. The IMR 2018 dwells upon issues such as social security
benefits, tracing work permit schemes, policy changes in terms of visa
requirements for health and skilled professionals across the globe and
linguistic and gender norms within transnational communities. In this
context, it evaluates the socio-economic elements that impact migrants
and their dependents. The volume further discusses issues revolving
around several groups, such as bachelors in the Gulf, Indian students
and Tamil labourers, thus elaborating their primary concerns. The
IMR 2018 presents itself with the pursuit of rapid economic growth,
discussing advances in the discourse of migration.
Before I provide more details about the IMR 2018, let me briefly
review the earlier IMRs for the benefit of the readers. The first volume
of the India Migration Report (2010) analysed concepts of migration
based on international movement of labour. The IMR 2010 maps dif-
ferent types of labour migration among the Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC) countries along with the unscrupulous nature of immigration
agents, highlighting the significance of prevailing labour laws and its
violations. This introductory report provided a glimpse on the dire
situation in India and it stated reasons for the improvement of migra-
tion practices.
The next IMR published in 2011, which pointed at identity and
conflict of migration. It dealt with issues of discord caused due to vari-
ous aspects such as recruitment, networks and gender norms as identi-
fied through their lifestyle and work conditions, and the association
between migration and poverty.
xx Preface
In the background of the 2008 global financial crisis, the 2012
Report studied data collected from South Asia and regions of the Gulf
to disprove the possibility of large-scale return migration and decline
in remittances in the immediate future. It specifically brought up Uttar
Pradesh as the principal state of origin of Indian migration to the Gulf.
The India Migration Report 2013 was on the social cost of migra-
tion. It categorised the main affected parties – namely women, chil-
dren, and the elderly to assess psychological impacts faced due to
separation and weighed them with monetary and other physical gains
through migration. The volume highlighted the importance of under-
standing the social and psychological aspects faced by migrants and
dependants for more efficient policymaking.
Based on various case studies, the India Migration Report 2014
described diaspora as a philanthropic formulation, as it contributed
dramatically to fundamental institutional developments among the
local population. Moreover, the result of a paradigm shift wherein
student migrants return to the homeland after being appropriately
skilled emphasised the concept of “brain gain” as opposed to the per-
ception of “brain drain”. The report also drew attention to the central
functioning of diaspora in its pragmatic sense, signifying the positive
aspects that lead to the development of the home country.
The India Migration Report 2015 investigated challenges faced by
women migrants in an apparently monolithic history of patriarchal
policy environment. The report engaged in empirical and theoretical
issues in the labour recruitment policies of India and other GCC coun-
tries. Overall, the report reveals the plight of women as subordinate in
the context of migration.
The India Migration Report 2016 discussed migration to the Persian
Gulf region. This volume looked at contemporary labour recruitment
and policy, both in India and in the GCC countries. Additionally, it
explored gender issues in migration to the Gulf countries and brought
together the latest field data on migrants across states in India and Gulf.
The India Migration Report 2017 built on the concept of “forced
migration” as a scourge. The report asserted the facade of urbanisa-
tion which displaced numerous people from their homes. The Internal
Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) report supplemented the
critical theory, with over 1.5 million people displaced due to develop-
ment each year since 2000.
The ninth volume, IMR 2018 is organised into 20 chapters. The
first chapter is led by Ali Mehdi, Divya Chaudhry, Pallavi Joshi and
Priyanka Tomar. The chapter identifies European Union (EU) as a
favoured destination for the Indian population, largely focusing on
 Preface xxi
historic trends and further analysing the policies or challenges of
movement within students and labour communities to migrate from
India to the EU.
Atul Kumar Tiwari, Dhananjay Ghei and Prerna Goel explore major
social security agreements in practice, making an extensive assessment
of bilateral treaties in order to identify security benefits and its totali-
sation of insurance periods which stands to avert dual contribution
towards the homeland and destination. The chapter further inquires
the key policies and highlights key outcomes, especially identifying the
policies of circular migration of the skilled set of labourers willing to
migrate to other countries.
Binod Khadria draws upon modelling of Blue Card scheme in
Europe, and as to how it complements other immigration policies
across the globe, attracting highly skilled workers from countries like
India over the decade since its first pronouncement.
S. Irudaya Rajan develops the theme of short-term travel visas. The
chapter illustrates how emigrants and temporary visitors expand the scope
of economy in terms of bilateral relations. Furthermore, the chapter
devotes to analyse the dire situation of revising visa facilitation pro-
grammes and abetments that partly enable a collective bilateral rela-
tion, both in India and the EU.
Pauline Melin synthesises the social security rights of Indian migrants
in Europe, scrutinising the characteristically oriented perspectives of
the UK and Belgium. This chapter examines social security coordina-
tion between countries such as the UK and Belgium and the Indian
social security system as they migrate to the UK or Belgium.
Puja Guha, in Chapter 6, explicates the enlargement of the EU and
Brexit as two major events that occurred in the European Union. The
chapter analyses competition faced by Indian migrants in Europe by
showing the patterns of Indian migration pre- and post-enlargement of
the EU. The chapter also views migration pattern pre- and post-Brexit
and particularly elaborates on labour migration from Gujarat to the UK.
Ayona Bhattacharjee points to the demand put forth by the Euro-
pean commission and examine the current patterns in health pro-
fessional mobility from India to the EU. The chapter also provides
insights on frequent career choices of doctors and nurses preferring
to move to the European market. The succeeding explorations help
to understand the shift in the economic and political state of affairs
as initiated by Brexit calls for revisiting the issue of labour mobility in
healthcare.
S. Irudaya Rajan and Nikhil Panicker, view in retrospect, the impact
on the UK economy due to Brexit and calls attention to decreasing net
xxii Preface
immigration after Brexit. The chapter explains the results of empirical
analyses on multiple points of impact and also narrates the labour and
international student migration. Finally, this chapter gives a view of
Indian student migration to the UK.
Alexander Hoogenboom studies the growth of English language
programmes across Europe wherein Brexit and immigration policies in
the US stand liable to the substantial growth of the same. The chapter
combines legalities of education in the EU for international students in
the light of these developments.
Basant Potnuru and Binod Khadria explore the themes of shift of
healthcare workers from developing countries to developed countries
due to ageing populations and decline in indigenous workforce, which
strengthen international migration in the healthcare sector. Despite
these factors, developed countries confine the inflow of foreign workers
through stringent immigration and visa regulations. The chapter studies
this contrast and analyses migration trends with respect to this anomaly.
In Chapter 11, Barbara Bertolani theorises major distinctive features
of Indian migration to Italy. In particular, the essay elaborates num-
bers, places of settlement, and productive sectors of Indians, in order
to determine the depth of economic integration. Further, it shows the
trajectory of migration from India to Italy, identifying its origins since
the late 1970s and subsequent arrivals, along with familial reunions
since the late 1980s. Later, the chapter discusses the effects of severe
economic crisis in Italy that led to the shift of families to India and
also, their migration to other English-speaking nations. Simultane-
ously, it focuses upon the dynamics of progressive rooting, acquisi-
tion of visibility and religious institutionalisation on Italian territory
of Sikhs, Hindus, Ravidasias and other minorities.
Marco Omizzolo and Pina Sodano document international traffick-
ing of Sikhs from Punjab to the province of Latina (Italy). The chapter
further examines relations of international trafficking among humans
and the exploitation of migrants in the workforce and illegal labour
brokerage in particular. The authors offer chief elements of interna-
tional trafficking with reference to the Punjabi workforce and other
related social and economic plights.
Gunjan Sondhi, Parvati Raghuram, Clem Herman and Esther
Ruiz Ben identify various trajectories of highly skilled Indian female
migrants employed amid the male-dominated IT sectors, both in India
and the UK. The paper scrutinises gender norms within workplaces in
both the UK and India and particularly focus upon feminist aspects
based in IT sectors in the UK.
 Preface xxiii
Shahana Purveen explores issues of identity and “Indianness”
among migrants of Indian origin in the tightly knit university town of
Oxford. Using interviews and observation methods, the author devel-
ops the idea of being Indian when abroad and shows how language,
caste and religious differences that are pronounced in India tend to
fade away among migrant communities.
Tilotama Pradhan, in Chapter 15, demarcates transnational
attachments as an autonomous subject, the developing of conscious
or unconscious minds that signify personal experiences of student
migrants with a sense of cultural orientation. The author also reflects
upon what may be understood as “home culture”.
Christine Moliner highlights how current migration policies of
Europe affect labour migration from India. It further analyses varied
aspects of how migrants are affected in terms of social mobility and
economic integration, along with their health and wellbeing.
Shoba Arun discusses the unpredictable nature of the lives of skilled
migrant workers when it comes to job security and worker-citizen rela-
tionships. The author investigates the widening between labour market
and work practices that is fostered by a burgeoning anti-immigration
climate in the UK.
Irudaya Rajan, Chitra Ranganathan and Sreelakshmi Ramachan-
dran using data on 300 male migrants from Tamil Nadu who reside
in the UAE monitor aspects of employment, livelihood, and wellbe-
ing. The authors report on topics such as mental trauma, social life
and economic mobility. This chapter investigates how Tamilians are
pushed towards what may be considered the lowest stratum of the
Gulf’s social structure.
S. Irudaya Rajan and K. C. Zachariah assess the impact of migra-
tion on fertility of Kerala. The authors comment that migrant house-
holds have early child-bearing behaviour and an over-representation
of girl children. Finally, the authors emphasise the fact that migration
alone cannot determine demographic transformation and other proxi-
mate determinants such as religion, age, education and employment
are also factors in fertility.
S Amuthan, in the concluding chapter, provides a comprehensive
statistical analysis of the impact on the Tamil Nadu economy due to
out-migration from households.
The IMR 2019 will focus on Indian diaspora in Europe. The IMR
2020 will examine refugees in India, while the IMR 2021 will address
issues on the health of migrants.
S. Irudaya Rajan
Acknowledgements

Over the past nine years, the India Migration Reports (IMR) have
received overwhelming support and global recognition from readers
that include development practitioners, policymakers, researchers
as well as activists, and have emerged as prime reference works in
the field. I take this opportunity to thank all contributors who have
helped make every report in the series a must-read. In particular,
I thank all the contributors who have made IMR 2018 a stimu-
lating and thought-provoking collection of articles on European
immigration.
The series was conceived in 2008 and commenced in 2010, after the
erstwhile Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) established the
Research Unit on International Migration (RUIM) at the Centre for
Development Studies in 2006. I express my gratitude to all the secre-
taries at the MOIA, and in particular, to S. Krishna Kumar, K. Mohan-
das and Dr A. Didar Singh for their backing and guidance throughout
the life of RUIM at CDS between 2006 and 2016.
At CDS, I thank K.M. Chandrasekhar, Chairman; Sunil Mani,
Director; Suresh Kumar, Registrar; V. Sriram, Librarian; and S. Suresh,
Finance Officer, along with my colleagues, students, administrative
and library staff for their encouragement and wishes in all my aca-
demic endeavours. Over the span of the last eight reports, the ear-
lier directors K.N. Nair, Pulapre Balakrishnan and Amit Shovon
Ray; and Chairpersons N. R. Madhava Menon and Bimal Jalan have
provided all necessary academic support to make the series a suc-
cess. I also thank my own research team members – S. Sunitha, K. S.
Sreeja, Nikhil Panicker, Sidharth Rony, Sayed Migdad and Sreelak-
shmi Ramachandran – who were indispensable in putting this report
together.
 Acknowledgements xxv
Likewise, I am grateful for the emotional support, patience and
understanding I have received from my wife Hema and our three
children – Rahul, Rohit and Mary Catharine.
Last but not least, I would like to put on record my appreciation for
the hard work of the editorial and sales teams of Routledge in bringing
this report out on time.
S. Irudaya Rajan
1 The European Union as a
preferred destination for
Indian migrants?
Prospects, patterns, policies
and challenges
Ali Mehdi, Divya Chaudhry, Pallavi Joshi
and Priyanka Tomar

The European Union (EU) has been of special economic significance

for India. Trade between the two sides grew exponentially since 2002
and peaked in 2011, with the balance of trade occasionally being
in India’s favour, repeatedly since 2013 (Figure 1.1). In 2016, while
India was EU’s ninth largest trading partner and source of imports –
accounting for 2.2 percent and 2.3 percent of EU’s total trade and
imports respectively – the EU has been India’s largest trading partner –
accounting for 14 percent of India’s total trade and 18 percent of its
exports. Given the scope of this chapter, we cannot delve into the
details of their trade further, but there is another aspect – movement
of people – in which these partners stand to economically complement
each other, and which also holds the potential to boost trade between
them. This chapter reviews patterns, policies and some of the major
challenges related to India to EU mobility in general, that of labour
and students in particular. Since this chapter is part of India Migration
Report 2018, it focuses only on India to EU mobility, and not vice
versa. Since a number of major policies/agreements are either recent
or under discussion, we do not yet know well what their impacts will
be – we have tried our best to highlight certain areas of concern.
India’s National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneur-
ship 2015 talks about identifying countries with skilled labour short-
ages and developing Human Resource Mobility Partnerships with
them to address their shortages with the surplus Indian labour force.
The EU is one such region, and the two sides endorsed a Common
Agenda for Migration and Mobility (CAMM) at EU-India Sum-
mit on 30 March 2016. Figure 1.2 shows that India gained an early
advantage over the EU in terms of the size of the prime workforce
120000 4000

3000
100000

2000
80000

1000
60000
0

40000
-1000

20000
-2000

0 -3000

Balance of trade Total trade

Figure 1.1 India–EU trade flows and balance (USD millions), 1990–2016
Source: Direction of Trade Statistics (DoTS), International Monetary Fund (IMF).
700000 40

600000 35

30
500000

25
400000
20
300000
15

200000
10

100000 5

0 0
1950 1970 1990 2010 2015 2020 2030 2040

EU-28 (n) India (n) EU (%) India (%)

Figure 1.2 Prime workforce (25–49 years), in thousands (n) and as percentage of total population (%),
EU-28 and India, 1950–2040
Source: World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision (medium variant), United Nations Population Division (UN
2017).
Note: EU-28 nations include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Nether-
lands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
14000 25

12000
20
10000

15
8000

6000
10

4000
5
2000

0 0

Remittances (in million USD) % of total remittance inflows

Figure 1.3 Remittances received by India from major source countries, 2016

Source: Bilateral remittance estimates for 2016 (Oct 2017 revision), The World Bank.
 Preferred destination for Indian migrants? 5
(25–49 years), while its prime workforce as a percentage of its total
population surpassed that of the EU in 2015, with the EU’s situation
poised to worsen and that of India improve over the decades. While
‘high-skill immigration from India to mainland Europe is a rather
recent phenomenon’ (Tejada et al. 2014), the future could be bright
if both sides are able to develop mutually beneficial collaborative and
governance mechanisms relating to mobility and migration.
From India’s perspective, improved labour migration to the EU will
not only mean a highly lucrative and attractive source of jobs for the
highly aspirational and skilled Indian labour force – which is a major
concern for Indian policymakers given the state of job creation within
the country – but also improved trade with the EU and higher remit-
tances to support its growth and development. India is already the
world’s largest recipient of international remittances, but the EU has
so far not played a prominent role as a source (Figure 1.3). How-
ever, with EU’s need of highly skilled labour migration, the prospect
of qualitatively higher inflows from the EU vis-à-vis Gulf countries –
where it’s largely the un- and semi-skilled migrants from India going –
is too alluring to be neglected. Labour as well as student mobility is
the other aspect where the EU holds special economic significance for
India and Indian policymakers should work proactively for it, espe-
cially with crises in the Gulf and the US.

Patterns of India–EU migration

According to the International Migration Report 2015, Indian dias-
pora was the largest in the world, at 16 million in 2015 (UN 2016).
Unlike other countries with large diasporas, it is fairly dispersed, as
evident from Figure 1.4. The share of EU-28 was the fourth highest,
but only 8 percent, indicating the scope for more Indian migrants in
that part of the world, especially the highly skilled, and also as a desti-
nation for Indian students aspiring for international higher education
and skills. However, it also needs to be mentioned that the stock of
Indian migrants in EU-28 has gone up by 136 percent over a quar-
ter of a century – from 504,856 in 1990 to 1,193,148 in 2015 (UN
2016; UNDP 2015). Figure 1.5 tells us how they are distributed in
the EU-28. For historical (colonial past), linguistic (English) as well
as other reasons, the United Kingdom has a disproportionately higher
percentage of migrants from India. However, while the number of
Indian migrants in the UK continuously increased, from 399,526 in
1990 to 776,603 in 2015, its share of Indian migrants as a percentage
of Indian migrants in the EU-28 was also continuously on the decline,
 West Asia
53%

North America
17%

Other regions South Asia

3% 16%
Australia and New
Zealand EU-28
3% 8%

Figure 1.4 Indian migrants by region of destination, 2015

Source: United Nations Population Division: The 2015 revision (UN 2016; UNDP
2015).

Others
11%
Spain
France 3%
4%
Germany
6%

Italy
11%
UK
65%

Figure 1.5 Top five EU countries with the highest stock of Indian migrants,
2015
Source: UN (2016).
 Preferred destination for Indian migrants? 7
from 79 percent in 1990 to 65 percent in 2015, which means Indian
migrants have increasingly gone to other countries in the EU. One
such noteworthy case is Italy, where the stock of Indian migrants went
up from a mere 3,413 in 1990 to 136,403 in 2015. According to one
explanation, this rise is, at least to some degree, due to the regularisa-
tion of formerly illegal Indian migrants in Italy, mostly from Punjab,
working on agricultural and dairy farms.1 Italy also issued the second
highest number of work permits (11,000) to Indians in unskilled and
low-skilled foreign labourer category (OECD International Migration
Outlook 2013). Between 2008 and 2015, a total of 22,298 Indians
were granted citizenship by Italian government (Eurostat).
In terms of first permits issued to Indians by EU-28 countries for a
duration of 12 months or more, Figure 1.6 shows that permits issued
to Indians peaked in 2010, but faltered thereafter. Since the UK was
the top issuing country, followed by Italy, changes in their issuing
patterns affected the overall EU-28 trends. The UK alone had issued
69.6 percent of the total EU-28 first permits for 12 months or more in
2008, which went up to 80.8 percent in 2011, declining to 54.1 per-
cent in 2014, only to go up to 66.9 percent by 2016. Italy, on the other
hand, recorded a downward spiral from 11 percent in 2008 to 4.1 per-
cent in 2012, followed by a rise to 6.8 percent in 2014, but again
going down to 2.9 percent in 2016. Italy’s 2016 position is the reason
why it does not figure in any list in Table 1.1. Before we move on, it
is interesting to note that while the issuance of first permits did not go
up much in 2016 vis-à-vis the 2008 figures (merely by 5,187), the per-
centage of first permits issued for remunerated activities as percentage
of total first permits issued to Indian citizens went up from 9 percent
to 13 percent, even as comparative figures for education were 9 to
5 percent. In terms of numbers, however, first permits issued for both
had declined – from 46,457 to 32,943 and 30,786 to 20,558 for remu-
nerated activities and education respectively between 2008 and 2016.
Once again, as we can see in Table 1.1, the UK was the main culprit
for this overall decline, while all other EU-28 countries among the top
five increased their issuances dramatically in both the categories. In
the context of Brexit, the EU’s economic significance for India will be
defined by India’s relations with EU-28 minus the UK, and therefore
this may appear as an acceptable trend from the perspective of EU and
India-EU relations. However, India will have to separately deal with
the UK to ensure that the downward spiral is reversed as the UK has
been India’s biggest economic partner in Europe, while simultaneously
ensuring that the trend of India-EU trade and mobility are strength-
ened independently.
180,000 18

160,000 16

140,000 14

120,000 12

100,000 10

80,000 8

60,000 6

40,000 4

20,000 2

0 0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Total (n) Education (n) Remunerated activities (n) EU total (%) EU education (%) EU RA (%)

Figure 1.6 First permits (12 months or over) issued to Indian citizens by EU-28
Source: Eurostat.
 Preferred destination for Indian migrants? 9
Table 1.1 Top five EU-28 countries which issued first permits (12 months or
over) to Indian citizens for education and remunerated activities

Education Remunerated activities

Countries 2008 2016 Countries 2008 2016

UK 88.2 67.0 UK 65.3 47.5
Germany 3.4 9.3 Germany 5.2 9.9
France 1.9 8.4 Netherlands 0.0 9.9
Netherlands 0.0 4.0 Sweden 3.0 6.4
Sweden 0.9 3.3 Denmark 4.2 4.9
Other EU–28 5.6 8.1 Other 22.3 21.4
EU–28
Source: Eurostat.

Let us now review EU policies as well as specific India-EU agree-

ments for the facilitation of labour and student mobility as well as
general and specific challenges, which both sides need to take stock
of with an eye on improved mobility and migration for their mutual
economic benefit.

Policies facilitating labour mobility between the EU

and third countries2
Following the 2008 economic crisis, EU Member States (MS) recog-
nised the need to reorient their economies further from traditional
industry-based to stronger knowledge economies. In addition to
developing new skills and competences among their own domestic
workforces through reforms in national education and training sys-
tems, legal migration was seen as one of the potential ways to further
strengthen their ‘knowledge society’ (EMN 2011). While working age-
populations have declined in the MS on the one hand, there is high
unemployment as well as skills mismatch on the other. At the Euro-
pean level, at high-skill levels, there are shortages of information and
communication technology (ICT), science, technology, engineering
and mathematics (STEM) professionals as well as for nurses, midwives
and teachers. At the intermediate-skill levels, there is need for migrants
to works as cooks, welders and truck drivers (CEDEFOP 2016).
A reflection of this mismatch can also be seen in employment growth
projections in Figure 1.7. Country-/sector-specific shortages are: ICT
(France, Germany, Austria, Ireland, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom),
healthcare (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Slo-
venia, United Kingdom), academia (Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Spain),
financial services (France, Ireland, Malta) and engineering (Austria,
 Mining & quarrying -16.68
Agriculture, forestry & fishing -15.86
Energy supply services -8.90
Water and waste treatment -6.78
Manufacturing -3.92
Public sector & defence -3.92
Transport & storage 0.46
Construction 0.90
Education 0.98
Wholesale & retail trade 4.07
Accommodation & food 5.52
Arts & recreation 7.21
Finance & insurance 7.63
Health & social care 7.83
ICT services 7.97
Administrative services 12.72
Professional services 16.30

Figure 1.7 Employment growth (%) in the EU by sectors, 2015–2025

Source: European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP).
 Preferred destination for Indian migrants? 11
Germany, Spain, Ireland), as indicated by CEDEFOP (2016). In the
wake of the skills mismatch in the domestic workforce as well as
declining working age-populations across the MS, satisfying labour
demand through migration, both intra-EU and from third countries, is
part of the EU’s policy agenda. Indian migrants have a clear advantage
in filling skill gaps in ICT as well as healthcare services.
In recent years, following the refugee crisis, there have been political
concerns towards maintaining balance between attracting migrants-
with desired skills and education for addressing economic and labour
market needs and ensuring welfare of domestic populations. In this
regard, the EU has adopted a more proactive and comprehensive
framework combining elements of migration policy, external relations
and developmental policy. In 2005, Global Agenda on Migration and
Mobility (GAMM) was adopted, which included non-binding bilateral
cooperation frameworks: Mobility Partnerships (MPs)3 and Common
Agendas for Migration and Mobility (CAMMs). Managing labour
mobility has been an important element of both. Further, European
Commission has undertaken initiatives in the form of directives that
lay down legal bases to facilitate mobility of highly skilled migrants,
intra-corporate transferees, seasonal workers, etc. (see Table 1.2).

Table 1.2 EU legislations facilitaing labour mobility

Legislation Legal basis Details

Articles 79 and 80 of Immigration policy Regulation of entry and

the Treaty on the residence conditions,
Functioning of the including long–term
European Union residence permits and
(TFEU) family–reunification,
as well as of the
rights of third–
country nationals
legally resident in
the EU
Schegen aquis Schengen borders code Rules governing the
Regulation (EC) No and visa movement of persons
539/2001, across borders
Regulation (EU)
2016/399,
Regulation (EC) No
767/2008,
Regulation (EC) No
810/2009

(Continued)
Table 1.2 (Continued)

Legislation Legal basis Details

Directive 2003/86/EC Right to family– Specific provisions
reunification on family unity for
the beneficiaries
of international
protection
Directive 2003/109/EC Long–term residents Directive faciliates
grant of long–term
resident status.
by EU Member
States, to non–EU
nationals, who have
resided legally and
continuously within
the territory of a
Member State for
five years
Directive 2009/50/EC EU Blue Card Scheme Directive provides
conditions of entry
and residence of
third–country
nationals for the
purposes of highly
qualified employment
Directive 2009/52/EC Employer sanctions Directive provides
minimum standards
on sanctions and
measures to be
applied in Member
States against
employers of illegally
resident third–
country nationals
Directive 2011/98/EU Combined work and Directive provides
residence permit single application
procedure leading
to a combined title
encompassing both
residence and work
permits within a
single administrative
act will contribute
to simplifying and
harmonising the rules
currently applicable
in Member States
 Preferred destination for Indian migrants? 13

Legislation Legal basis Details

Directive 2014/36/EU Seasonal workers Directive provides
conditions of entry
and residence for
non–EU citizens
wishing to work in
an EU Member State
for short periods – a
maximum period
of between 5 and 9
months, depending
on the Member
State – as seasonal
workers
Directive 2014/66/EU Intra–corporate Directive provides a
transferees single application
for a combined work
and residence permit
valid for up to three
years, and provides
for equal treatment
with nationals of the
host Member States
with regard to social
security
Directive 2014/67/EU Posted workers Directive rights of
undertakings to
provide services in
another Member
State, to which they
may post their own
workers temporarily
in order to provide
those services there
Source: Authors’ compilation from EU’s website.

Interestingly, implementing migration policies, granting work per-

mits and transposing the above directives into legislation falls under
the competence of individual MS. Therefore, while Schengen visa
facilitates short business visits to Schengen region, work permits are
as per the legislation of individual MS. Hence, even though the direc-
tives streamline the policies to some extent, there may be differences
among MS vis-à-vis enforcement strategies governing labour mobil-
ity. For instance, as per domestic labour market needs, MS adopt the
14 Ali Mehdi, et al.
following mix of approaches that are managed and implemented by
institutional bodies, employers and occupational organisations (EMN
2013):

1 drawing up occupation lists where labour shortages exist

Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania,
Poland, Spain, the UK
2 analysing needs of labour market through employers needs
analysis
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Ireland,
Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovak Repub-
lic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden
3 setting up of quotas and limits
Austria, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Norway, the UK

India-EU labour mobility

Since the signing of cooperation agreement of 1994, India-EU relations
have expanded to include more areas of cooperation through delibera-
tions at annual summits and meetings at ministerial, senior officials
and expert levels. These efforts were further strengthened in 2006
when both partners entered into a strategic partnership for address-
ing topics of international concern in the context of increasing global
interconnectedness. As regards managing migration and mobility,
though India-EU mobility is currently concentrated to few MS, com-
plementarities in demographic profiles and skill-sets hold opportuni-
ties that can benefit other MS as well. With this view, India-EU “High
Level Dialogue on Migration and Mobility” was launched under the
framework of GAMM. Since then, with the aim of enhancing the issu-
ance of visas, fair recruitment practices, equal treatment as well as
access and portability of benefits for migrant workers, etc., India and
the EU MS have signed several bilateral and multilateral agreements
inter alia for facilitating labour mobility. These include negotiations
on free-trade agreements (broad-based Bilateral Trade and Investment
Agreement or BTIA), social security agreements, labour mobility part-
nerships, institutional engagements, etc.4 However, while the policy
dialogues have recognised merits of well-managed migration, the
movement of people has been largely limited to enhanced cooperation
on delivery of consular and visa services (Oliveira and Mayer 2017).
 Preferred destination for Indian migrants? 15
A reflection of this can be seen in the number of first permits issued
to Indian citizens for remunerative activities in EU. There has been
a decline in first permits issued to Indian citizens for remunerative
activities, as was mentioned above. As stated, this decline is mainly
due to reduction in first permits issued by UK and Italy. Particularly in
the case of Italy,5 due to high unemployment rates caused by the eco-
nomic crisis, the government is making efforts to absorb the existing
pool of migrant workers before issuing more permits. Also, Italy now
provides a preferential quota for third-country nationals (TCNs) from
countries, including mostly neighbouring ones like Republic of Mol-
dova, Morocco and Egypt, with which bilateral agreements have been
concluded to regulate entry flows for reasons of employment (EMN
2013). As for UK, the complex Tier 2 visa process has been cited as a
major reason for the decline in applications and grant of work permits.
In order to build a more comprehensive approach of enhancing
well-managed migration as a whole, including organised labour mobil-
ity, India and EU (and member states) signed the CAMM in 2016.
CAMM, however, can only be seen as a roadmap, and India and EU
MS will have to engage at a bilateral level. As the way forward, a num-
ber of issues related to the movement of both high- and semi-skilled
labour need to be addressed to make the ongoing dialogue successful:

1 One of the most important factors in enhancing labour mobil-

ity is streamlining and enhancing issuance of work permits. In
this regard, a series of legal instruments have been introduced.
However, their full impact is yet to be realised due to two rea-
sons: a) some are recently introduced (viz. directives for seasonal
workers, intra-corporate transferees and posted workers), b) some
involve implementational challenges. For instance, the Blue Card
Directive and Single Permit were introduced in 2009 and 2011
respectively in order to facilitate permanent residence and assist
in attracting highly skilled workers. However, only a limited num-
ber of Blue Cards were issued than expected due to factors such
as restrictive admission conditions to the whole European labour
market, high salary thresholds, parallel rules and schemes across
MS, etc.6 To mitigate this, the European Commission is making
efforts to revamp the schemes, with more harmonised conditions,
procedures and rights, which is likely to impact future labour
mobility from India to EU MS.
2 Second, movement of natural persons under Mode 47 mobility is
still a ‘sticky point’ under the negotiations of BTIA. This may be
due to the fact that India-EU movement of people has remained
16 Ali Mehdi, et al.
more of an immigration issue, with little recognition of its link-
ages with the trade of services. Additionally, the enforcement of
Mode 4 obligations is a prerogative of EU MS, who are conserva-
tive as far as duration of stay is concerned. As per Mukherjee and
Goyal (2013), India has offered more liberal commitment vis-à-vis
the EU with respect to duration of stay to different categories of
service suppliers (viz. business visitors, intra-corporate transfer-
ees, independent professionals and contractual service suppliers).
A more effective visa issuance regimen with long-term validity
was also highlighted as one of the recommendations of CAMM.
3 Further, there are differences among MS with respect to recogni-
tion of professional qualification for regulated professionals like
architects, lawyers, etc. For instance, a primary survey of engineer-
ing and architecture Indian and EU companies revealed that the
movement of people would increase if there was mutual recogni-
tion of engineering and architecture education and qualifications.
Due to lack of recognition, Indian designs often have to be signed
and vetted by someone based in an EU MS (ibid). While Council
Directive 2005/36/EC (Professional Qualifications) lays down the
legal basis for the recognition of qualifications for regulated pro-
fessions and is applicable to EU citizens, TCNs are dependent on
other secondary legislations, as listed in Table 1.2 (Lavinia 2016).
4 A more broad-based yet critical issue for India is maintenance
and regular publication of labour migration data. This will help
strengthen its legal and administrative capacity to monitor labour
migration and mobility. Overall, there is a need to strengthen insti-
tutional mechanisms to manage labour mobility between India
and EU MS with a clear focus on addressing both high-skilled
and semi-skilled labour. CAMM, negotiations on BTIA, stronger
implementation of Directives and signing of labour mobility part-
nerships may further strengthen these linkages.

Policies facilitating student mobility between third

countries and EU
Promoting the mobility of TCNs to the EU has been a crucial part
of its education policy since 1994. Major reforms started with the
Bologna Process in 1999, an agreement signed between EU MS to
ensure student mobility within the EU and promote the attractiveness
of education in the EU for non-EU nationals. With the objective of
improving the EU’s competitiveness in higher education after the Bolo-
gna Process, EU MS tried to promote international student mobility
 Preferred destination for Indian migrants? 17
(ISM) through a wide range of initiatives, including bilateral agree-
ments between countries involving general policy dialogues, student
exchanges, workshops and conferences, research grants and scholar-
ships, joint consortia projects, etc. Admission of non-EU students in
EU MS for studies, exchange, unremunerated training and voluntary
services is governed by Council Directive 2004/114. However, imple-
mentation of these policies is the prerogative of ministries and depart-
ments in the individual MS, influenced by their respective policies in
education, employment, migration as well as home and foreign affairs.
Table 1.3 presents a list of recent Memorandums of Understanding
(MoUs) and Joint Declarations of Intent (JDIs) between India and
select EU MS for student mobility in higher education.
The UK’s approaches and policies for international students are sig-
nificantly different from the rest of the EU.8 The UK has followed more
competitive approach for attracting international students, largely
focusing upon degree-seeking student circulation (vertical mobility).
Historically, the emphasis of other EU MS has been on promoting

Table 1.3 Student mobility agreements between India and select EU MS

Country MoUs/JDIs Signed

UK Joint statement between Ministry New Delhi, 13

of Human Resource Development Nov2014
(MHRD), Government of India and
Department of Business, Innovation
and Skills (DBIS), UK
MoU between MHRD and DBIS New Delhi and
A framework for UK–India Education London, 7 Apr and
and Research Initiative (UKIERI) 18 Mar 2015
(2016–21)
Germany MoU between MHRD and Federal Berlin, 11 Apr 2013
Ministry of Education and
Research, Germany for cooperation
in the field of higher education
JDI between MHRD and the Federal New Delhi, 5 Oct
Foreign Office regarding the 2015
promotion of German as a Foreign
Language in India and promotion
of Modern Indian Languages in
Germany
France Exchange Programme between India New Delhi, 15 Feb
and France on cooperation in the 2007
field of education
Source: MHRD website.
18 Ali Mehdi, et al.
subsidised programs – enhancing student exchange and credit mobil-
ity (short-term horizontal mobility) (Wit 2012). Additionally, coun-
tries like the UK, France and Germany have also benefitted because
of their historical and colonial ties with the rest of the world. With
Europe’s declining working-age population, internationalisation of
higher education is also perceived as part of their broader economic
and labour market reforms. Member states are increasingly focusing
on incentivising international students for higher education in the EU,
with an objective of assimilating them into their labour markets sub-
sequently. What better way to fill their skill gaps by absorbing people
in their labour markets educated and trained in their own universities
and well-familiar with their cultures and working styles? This has not
been one of the central focus of EU MS vis-à-vis attracting foreign
students, but should be considered by them. In other words, there has
to be greater convergence between their labour and student mobility
facilitation strategies.

Trends and factors affecting student mobility between

India and the EU
Promoting student mobility is a win-win situation for both India
and the EU. According to OECD estimates, India, accounting for
9 percent of all mobile masters and doctoral students, is the second
most important source country of internationally mobile students
after China, which accounted for 22 percent of all mobile masters
and doctoral students in 2014.9 Data on ISM for tertiary educa-
tion shows that the US alone hosted 44 percent of Indian mobile
students abroad, followed by Australia (15 percent), the UK (8 per-
cent), New Zealand (6 percent) and Canada (5 percent) (Figure 1.8).
The EU needs to do more to attract Indian students, because major
EU countries like the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden and the
Netherlands together only have 14 percent of Indian mobile students
abroad (UNESCO 2014–15). However, unavailability of a compre-
hensive annual database at international level, and complete lack
of any sort of database in India on ISM makes it a daunting task to
further analyse trends of student mobility between India and other
countries.
In order to further promote student mobility between India and
EU as part of CAMM, it becomes extremely crucial to identify and
address some of the major factors that hinder well-managed mobility/
exchange of students and researchers between the two regions.
120,000 50
45
100,000
40
35
80,000
30
60,000 25
20
40,000
15
10
20,000
5
0 0

Number of Indian students abroad as % mobile Indian students abroad

Figure 1.8 Flow of tertiary level students from India to major destination countries, 2014–2015
Source: UNESCO.
20 Ali Mehdi, et al.
1 Cost of education and availability of scholarships are major fac-
tors that influence student mobility across the globe. Mobility is a
central component in the EU’s Erasmus Mundus programs – 10each
joint degree programme is offered by a consortium of at least
three higher educational institutions and students are expected
to live in at least two countries. India is the largest beneficiary
of Erasmus Mundus scholarships – approximately 5,000 Indian
students have received the scholarship between 2004 and 2016,
which however is not a big number in absolute terms.11 In 2016,
India, with 63 scholarships, became the second largest recipient of
these scholarships. Apart from the Erasmus Programme, individ-
ual universities also offer scholarships to cover tuition fee, living
expenses, health insurance, etc. Given the extensive network of
public funded/state sponsored universities in Germany and Nor-
dic countries, including Norway (which is not part of EU-28),
either non-EU/-Schengen students have to pay minimal tuition fee
or none at all. However, they are increasingly under pressure to
raise their own revenue. For instance, a recent policy change sug-
gests that non-EU students will have to pay a fee of 1,500 euros
per semester at Baden-Württemberg universities in Germany from
autumn 2017–18, a trend that might be soon followed by other
universities in Germany as well.
2 Availability of programmes taught in English is one of the major
factors that Indian students consider while seeking education
abroad which becomes a major disadvantage for pursuing edu-
cation in most EU MS vis-à-vis English-speaking countries like
the UK, the US, Australia and Canada. However, in recent years,
English-taught programs have significantly increased in Nether-
lands (12 universities in the top 1,000 offering 1,034 English-
taught degrees), Germany (58 universities in the top 1,000 offering
835 English-taught degrees), Sweden (12 universities, 550 Eng-
lish-taught degrees), Denmark (7 universities, 482 English-taught
degrees) and Spain (42 universities, 404 English-taught degrees).12
3 Apart from linguistic disadvantages, mobility of Indian students
to EU is hindered by stringent visa policies and residence permit
issues which are found to be more lengthy, cumbersome and at
times issued for much shorter durations vis-a-vis other countries.
Even within the EU, MS differ in terms of rules for issuing visas/
residence permits.13 A survey conducted by Erasmus Mundus
Network (EMN) observed that average price for obtaining a visa
is 30 percent higher for non-EU/-Schengen citizens vis-à-vis EU/
Schengen citizens. In terms of process, document requirements are
much stricter and waiting time for obtaining visa much higher for
 Preferred destination for Indian migrants? 21
the former category.14 Moreover, average fee for a residence permit
is found to be more than three times higher for non-EU/-Schengen
citizens vis-à-vis EU/Schengen citizens.15
4 Another crucial factor that affects Indian student mobility is
access to labour market during and after the study period. In
accordance with Article 24 of the EU’s Directive 2016/801, every
MS shall determine maximum duration (hours per week/days or
months/year) for which students can work, although it should
not be less than 15 hours per week (or equivalent in days/months)
taking into account labour market situation of MS. In countries
like Czech Republic and Sweden, access to labour market is not
restricted at all (EMN 2012). In countries like Lithuania, while
students are allowed to work for up to 20 hours per week, get-
ting a work permit is difficult as the employer willing to hire a
third-country international student needs to establish that they
could not find their own/EU national with similar level of skills
for the position (ibid.). In general, EU nationals are given pri-
ority over international students. On the other hand, Germany
and France have liberalised policies for international students
who are seeking employment there after studies. For instance,
Germany introduced a legislation in 2012 which allows interna-
tional students to stay back and look for jobs after their gradu-
ation for 18 months. But this is more on paper than in practice.
France introduced two-year post-study work permit for Indian
students in 2016,16 but it needs to be seen how it will actually
work out.

The challenge of migrant integration in the EU

Such challenges, as highlighted above, have made migrant integration in
the EU difficult, leaving many migrants, including second-generation,
in a confused state of mind, which is neither helpful economically or
socially and culturally for the host EU MS.
Migrant integration is a major determinant of labour and student
mobility between origin and host countries. Willingness of the host
society to accommodate migrants and migrants’ commitment to the
receiving country are fundamental aspects of integration policies that
seems to affect the nature (temporary/permanent) as well as level
of migrant flows between countries. As challenges associated with
migrant integration are somewhat similar for TCNs, this section out-
lines discussion of broader policies and issues confronting migrants in
the EU, without going into specific integration experiences of Indians
in EU MS, which is similar, though not always identical.
22 Ali Mehdi, et al.
In 2015, the OECD reported that challenges related to integration
of TCNs are far more serious than integration of migrants from within
the EU. This is because in addition to complex legal barriers, TCN
migrants face difficulties in getting their home-country educational
qualifications recognised in EU labour markets. Although there is an
increasing recognition of the fact that migrant workers are needed to
offset challenges posed by an ageing population, and that fundamental
rights of migrants must be valued, surveys and official findings dem-
onstrate an alarming prevalence of discrimination, xenophobia and
hate crimes against migrants across the EU (FRA 2016; Beutin et al.
2006; Eurobarometer Opinion Poll 1997). The level of perceived dis-
crimination is particularly higher among TCNs, especially in Greece
and Austria (OECD/EU 2015). It is however important to highlight
that perceptions about being discriminated against may actually be
flawed – migrants may not feel discriminated against even when dis-
crimination is otherwise rampant or may have such perceptions even
when a society is largely tolerant and fair, but given differences in cul-
tural norms and attitudes. There is substantial evidence to show that
discrimination against migrants is pervasive in labour markets in the
UK, especially in the National Health Service (NHS), which has been
an important employer of doctors and nurses from the Indian subcon-
tinent (Batnitzky and McDowell 2011; Esmail 2007). Brexit, and the
alarming rise in hate crime incidents in its aftermath, further signify
that presence of migrant populations may instil economic and cultural
insecurities among the natives.
Citizenship acquisition/naturalisation, which has strong linkages to
inculcating a sense of belonging to the host country is a costly and
complex process,17 and often discourages TCNs to think of EU coun-
tries as secure destinations from the perspective of long-term migra-
tion. In fact, citizenship acquisition by TCNs has witnessed a decline in
the recent past, from close to 90 percent of all acquisitions (723,000)
in 2010 to 86 percent (727,200) in 2015. For Indians too, as a per-
centage of total TCNs, the rate of citizenship acquisition has dipped
from 4.8 percent (34,776) in 2010 to 4.2 percent (30,983) in 2015.18
It is often reported that “civic” integration tests that are required for
family reunion and long-term residence permits in MS like France,
Germany, Denmark and The Netherlands are restrictive and demand
that TCNs exhibit sufficient understanding of host country’s language,
culture, history and values (Carrera and Weisbrock 2009). While this
requirement is unequivocally considered as an “indispensable part of
integration” in Common Basic Principles (CBPs) of migrant integra-
tion adopted by the EU in 2004, applicants who are economically
 Preferred destination for Indian migrants? 23
better-off, highly skilled and those who come from the West are often
exempted from taking such tests. Let us delve into the historical back-
ground a little bit to understand the mismatch of expectations between
migrants and host country governments and natives.

Historical background
Colonisation and decolonisation post-World War II (WWII) stimu-
lated an exodus of workers from Asia and Africa to Europe. During
two World Wars, immigrants were required to serve as soldiers and
temporary labourers in armies of their European rulers. The collapse
of colonial rule led former colonial rulers, people of mixed lineage
and other minority groups to migrate to Europe. European nations
also struggled to reconstruct their economies after WWII and invited
migrants to address their post-war labour shortages. For instance,
Germany’s gastarbeiters (guest workers), comprising largely of Turk-
ish, Greek, Spanish and Italian migrants, were recruited to work in
German mines and factories for a period of one or two years and then
expected to return to their home countries.
Even though millions of migrants and refugees came to the EU since
the 1950s, the need to formulate a coherent integration policy was
felt after the 1980s when, for the first time in history, the number of
TCNs entering the continent exceeded the number of EU citizens going
abroad. Moreover, since Europe had traditionally been a continent of
temporary/ad-hoc migration, the process to develop a comprehensive
integration policy for migrants did not gain momentum until recently.
Consensus to develop a common EU-wide integration policy received
impetus with the Tampere policies of 1999, which laid a foundation
for providing “freedom and security” to all TCNs residing legally in
the EU. The adoption of CBPs in 2004 – which covered vital aspects
of integration such as making employment contribution of migrants
visible, addressing educational needs of migrants and their descend-
ants, facilitating frequent interaction between migrants and citizens,
ensuring equal access to private and public services, etc. – further reaf-
firmed the EU’s moral commitment to TCNs. While implementation
of integration policies is a function of national and subnational gov-
ernments, these policies are closely associated with EU provisions that
confer certain fundamental rights to TCNs residing in the EU. For
instance, Directive 2000/43/EC guarantees racial and ethnic equality
and Directive 2000/78/EC provides a framework for equal treatment
and opportunities to all TCNs. Further, Article 79.4 of the Treaty
on the Functioning of the EU (2012) reiterated the EU’s obligation
 Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics
 Le directeur venait vers nous, au travers des pelouses, escorté
d’élèves qui devaient suivre les allées et décrivaient en courant des
losanges, des huit, des S, autour de cet axe inflexible. Le thé fut pris
dans son bureau où il recueille, accrochés au mur, les portraits des
élèves les plus intelligents, des élèves morts, des plus beaux, et il
me montrait ceux qui étaient à la fois dans les trois panneaux.
Cloués face à la fenêtre, pour qu’on les vît mieux, les morts étaient
déjà jaunis par le soleil. Sa fille Ruth nous servait, l’actrice, si
maniérée quand elle joue, si naturelle dans la vie, avec Helen Doster,
son amie de théâtre, qui a les qualités inverses, et toutes deux ce
jour-là, l’une jouant, l’autre vivant, étaient également heureuses,
simples. Elles me conduisirent au Hall.
Dans le Hall, il y avait les huit plaques des anciens élèves tués en
France et les cendres même du neuvième, qui, suivant dans la
guerre mon tracé exact, aux mêmes jours que moi s’était trouvé
dans les hôpitaux en Occident, sur les navires en Orient. C’était de
tous les Américains celui dont la jeunesse ressemblait le plus à la
mienne, car Ruth me conta sa vie, et ce que je fus dans mon lycée
sous un autre nom je l’avais été dans cette école. On me montra son
dialogue, inachevé, sur Clytemnestre à Boston; on me le donna, je le
finirais; on me montra ses dernières lettres, où je disais vouloir
mourir pour un autre pays que le mien, où je demandais au
directeur des boîtes de crackers, depuis revenues et que l’on mit,
pour mon régiment, dans mon auto; ses photographies, et je vis ce
qui aurait été à Beverley mon cheval, ma maison, ma sœur. Une
maison calme et fleurie sur une île, dans un estuaire, et l’eau était
salée à l’est, douce à l’ouest et dorée; une sœur déguisée en pierrot
noir, impassible sous le magnésium, une sœur qui regarde le soleil
en face. Nos destins même un jour s’étaient croisés, puisque je
reconnus de Dorothée Simpson la même photo que j’ai, la même
dédicace, et certains de ses goûts ont peut-être passé depuis et
grandissent en moi, celui des yeux trop grands, des cheveux trop
longs, des bouches trop petites, pour moi jusqu’à Dorothée si
détestables.
 Mais déjà le soleil s’abaissait et faisait scintiller tout le long de la
colline, comme si le ciel avait les trois bordures qu’a la mer dans les
atlas, les trois fils de cuivre du télégraphe. Nous avions à gravir les
pentes sur lesquelles Longfellow et Emerson allaient rêver, et sur
deux bancs différents, car ils rêvaient parfois le même jour. Deux
élèves étaient nos guides; Bobby, le poète officiel de l’Ecole, qui
rédigeait les discours en poèmes, les compliments en sonnets, et
Harry, poète aussi, mais qui l’ignorait, et aucun maître n’osait le lui
révéler, car il était le meilleur élève de la classe, et que peut-il
advenir des thèmes ou des versions d’un somnambule qu’on éveille?
D’une humeur infaillible, comme nos sourciers de France s’arrêtent
juste au-dessus du bloc d’eau enterré, parfois il s’arrêtait, ne
bougeant plus, et Bobby se hâtait vers lui, et le professeur aussi
courait, car au point qu’il avait choisi il y avait toujours un vers à
trouver pour Bobby, et pour le professeur un précepte moral.
Ainsi nous allions, Bobby sur nos talons, que des joies soudaines
atteignaient, mesurées cependant et équilibrées aussitôt, selon leur
poids, par un distique ou par un quatrain, qui croyait chercher des
rimes en s’attardant devant deux fleurs ou deux nuages qui se
ressemblent, et loin devant nous Harry vagabond, âme de
découverte, que le directeur aujourd’hui surveillait sans émoi dans
ce paysage connu, comme le chasseur son chien dans son propre
clos. Du banc d’Emerson, je contemplais cette contrée où j’étais
venu insensible, où j’avais repris peu à peu les biens que nous prend
la guerre, le goût du ciel, le goût des forêts et des eaux. Triste
départ de Paris, où mes amies me soignaient comme on soigne un
musicien sourd, un peintre aveugle; où j’étais leur poète insensible.
Tristes mois où rien ne m’atteignait, où j’apercevais tout à travers un
voile, où je n’arrivais à soulever jusqu’à moi un être, un objet qu’en
leur trouvant une ressemblance, et encore c’était une ressemblance
avec un être et un objet d’un monde qui me restait inconnu. Mais
aujourd’hui, je voyais, j’entendais. Un brin d’herbe crissait sous une
dent de cigale, un brin d’herbe s’était plié, un autre noué, et il n’y
avait point à craindre l’oubli, ce jour-là, de la part du dieu des
gazons. Deux ormes hirsutes restaient courbés à l’angle droit devant
deux ifs, dans la pose où nous les avions surpris, confus, désespérés
d’avoir appris aux hommes que certains arbres sont esclaves et
d’autres Génies. Nous ne parlions pas; le roulement des autos reliait
des villages dentelés qui tournaient lentement. Nous songions
chacun à ce qui est sa pensée seule, mais toutes ces pensées parfois
se rejoignaient sur un oiseau, qui volait entre nous, qui, d’une aile à
reflet, renvoyait à celui-là la pensée et le regard que celui-ci avait
jetés. De sorte que soudain je pensais, et sans en voir la raison, à un
chien fidèle, à la France, et, pensée du Directeur sans doute, à Dieu
lui-même. Tout ce qui peut faire comprendre la vie de la terre, un
ruisseau avec des méandres, une carrière, un étang, voilà quel était
le paysage du philosophe qui ne voulut expliquer que les hommes.
On voyait de biais encore le cimetière, et les lourdes pierres des
tombes en raccourci comme les morts eux-mêmes dans Rembrandt.
On voyait les élèves courir sur une piste, et, à l’arrivée, séparés par
des intervalles immenses, ceux que d’en bas le juge terrestre ne
voyait distants que de quelques pouces. On voyait sur une écluse le
canot rouge aller, moi seul savais par quelle faiblesse de ses avirons,
saccadé et sans but, et dans les grands domaines, pour la fureur des
propriétaires, les fermiers user avec leur Ford les chemins neufs. On
voyait, au milieu d’un fourré, de granuleux pommiers sauvages en
fleurs et c’était la trace d’une des premières fermes d’émigrants, et
les quakers qui n’ont jamais souri laissent ces squelettes parfumés...
On croyait tout voir... Mais le directeur soudain nous montra Harry,
étendu au-dessus de nous, qui avait trouvé, dédaignant celui
d’Emerson, le vrai trône de la vallée, qui, bientôt, orienté dans sa
vraie ligne, ne bougea plus, qu’il fallut rejoindre... Pauvre Emerson
qui ne vit jamais, au ras du ciel, autour d’un clocher pointu, ce
bosquet vers lequel volait un oiseau, puis allait un bicycliste, puis
s’enfuyait un chien, puis courait un piéton, et qui ignora peut-être
toujours qu’en Nouvelle-Angleterre, le soir, humains et animaux,
s’unissent sous un bois d’érables et s’étendent, mais alternés, pour
le sommeil.
 FILM
n matin...
Je mens. Ce n’était pas un matin. Mais laissez-moi
essayer à vide toutes ces phrases qui soudain, au
cinématographe, apparaissent sur l’écran, d’or en Europe,
d’argent en Amérique, pour vous annoncer ce que l’on redoutait le
plus, ou aussi, c’est si bien la vie, ce qu’on n’osait plus espérer.
Laissez-moi contrôler mon cœur, s’il répond, s’il est un cœur naïf...
Un matin... Toi qui es près de moi, pose ta main sur ma poitrine, et
prononce ce mot sans m’avertir, et je vais penser à la nuit pour que
le coup soit plus sensible... Que tu parles brusquement, amie, quelle
secousse! quel mauvais boy d’ascenseur tu ferais!
 Une nuit...
Seul être qu’on approche en le fuyant, qu’on voit en fermant les
yeux! Nuit de New-Jersey où les feuilles des palmiers claquent de
chaque dent sous la fraîcheur, où l’étang est de plomb, et sur lui les
cygnes glissent tout hors de l’eau, on voit leurs pattes; où le mari
rentré du club avant la fin de l’opéra, contemplant la photo de sa
femme Ivy, découvre sur les lèvres la trace de deux lèvres et ne sait
ce qu’il doit souhaiter, savoir son meilleur ami amoureux d’elle ou
apprendre que c’est elle-même, égoïste, qui s’embrasse. Nuit d’été,
que l’opérateur poursuit en plein midi et avec une plaque bleue, de
sorte qu’on voit animé tout ce qui dort à pareille heure, les canards
d’Inde sur les bassins, la tête d’un facteur, et des petites filles en
pyjama qu’un bandit vole de leur berceau à minuit juste et qui
clignent des yeux à cause du soleil.
Soudain...
Mot qu’ils emploient toujours à contre-sens, pour dire "alors"!
Soudain, lentement, la femme imprudente vient, honnête, chez
l’Oriental; il la marque au fer rouge de la première lettre du mot
Japon (moi je peux l’épouser, j’ai la même initiale...) Soudain, peu à
peu, le professeur français de troisième classique, égaré dans la ville
des cow-boys, raconte les aventures qui lui arrivèrent en Europe: ce
brigand qui l’avait étendu sur un lit, qui coupait les pieds de ses
victimes quand ils dépassaient à travers les barreaux de cuivre,
quand les jambes étaient trop courtes qui les allongeait par des
supplices—lui avait eu juste la taille;—ce cheval indomptable qu’il
changea en agneau, qui avait peur de son ombre, qu’il monta
simplement un jour de pluie, les autres jockeys étaient pâles de
fureur, inondés... Soudain, à pas de loup, doucement, l’enfant qui a
trouvé une boîte de tisons veut allumer des taches de soleil sur la
vérandah et met le feu à la maison.
Un soir...
Mais cela c’est mon histoire.
Ecoutez...
 Un soir, rentrant de l’exercice, j’appris par le portier du Harvard-
Club que Clyton m’avait demandé quatre fois et qu’il attendait dans
ma chambre. Mais c’était mercredi, le jour où venait le courrier de
France, et je ne me hâtai point. J’avais depuis trois mois l’habitude
d’ouvrir aussitôt mes lettres et de les lire debout, appuyé au bureau
du caissier. Je l’aurais désobligé en les emportant intactes. Il me
souriait en silence, et derrière le pupitre d’en face la téléphoniste
évitait de parler haut, comme pour me laisser téléphoner dans un
pays lointain. La dernière lettre lue, il demandait si tout allait bien en
France. Tout allait bien. Les mercredis sans courrier, il me consolait
et me donnait les nouvelles de Niagara Falls, sa patrie, où tout est à
peu près parfait.
Aujourd’hui je mentais. Tout n’allait pas très bien. Jacques s’était
tué en avion. Les messages de morts qu’on reçoit en France à
chaque heure m’arrivaient tous ensemble dans cette seule journée.
Amis chargés pour moi, quelques instants à peine après leur mort,
dans le transatlantique, mais qui n’étaient plus que des ombres,
après un si long voyage, en débarquant. Malgré ma pitié, ma peine,
je ne parvenais pas à veiller un cadavre étendu; un mois, tout un
mois maintenant qu’ils étaient morts; ils me touchaient, mais déjà
impalpables; leurs yeux à nouveau étaient ouverts, leurs bouches
souriaient. Spectres venus pour moi seul dans ce continent nouveau,
je les sentais souffrir de ce bruit, de cette électricité, pénibles déjà à
des émigrés vivants, d’entendre la téléphoniste appeler en
chuchotant Boskiewitch, être débordant de santé, de la part de J. K.
Smith, qui certes un jour mourra, mais qui n’est point mort. Je
montais chez moi; les lettres ouvertes ne tenaient plus dans ma
grande enveloppe, je déchirais le haut des enveloppes, je jetais les
morceaux déchirés, je les regardais sur le plancher; je pensais à la
terre qui reste d’une tombe fermée, je les ramassais... Huit jours,
j’avais huit jours jusqu’au prochain passage. Huit jours pour rayer
une adresse, dans mon carnet, de la liste justement qui servira à
établir mes lettres de faire-part; huit jours pour imaginer qu’une
veuve n’était plus folle; que les enfants avaient remplacé la phrase
pour un père vivant, dans la prière du soir, par la phrase pour un
père mort; qu’une mère recommençait à manger un peu, à boire un
peu de lait, à ne plus résister à ceux qui parlaient de phoscao, de
biscottes...
Aujourd’hui Jacques était mort. Avec Gonzalve, qui ne le quittait
pas et que nous commencions, lui aussi, à aimer. L’avion qu’il
conduisait s’était abattu près de Meaux, et ainsi mon ami si cher
avait tué avec lui le seul moyen de le retrouver un peu, un ami à
peine moins cher, son seul reflet. Il était mort aussitôt. Gonzalve
avait vécu huit heures. Les amis de Jacques étaient arrivés en foule
de Paris, de Dammartin, de Melun. Gonzalve put les recevoir, leur
parler, leur dire que Jacques n’avait pas commis de faute: L’avion
s’était abattu de lui-même, et comme pour certains la vie se brise
sans qu’ils aient eu un premier léger tort envers elle, une première
maladresse, fait un petit mensonge, conçu une petite haine. Toute
sa famille était trop loin, à Pau, à Nice, quelqu’un à Venise; il écrivit
à sa mère, à son père, signa avec son sang,—fit recharger son stylo,
—à une amie, mais il ne vit que les amis de Jacques, leur transmit
les derniers mots de Jacques, qui furent ainsi, à huit heures
d’intervalle ses derniers mots. Il était calme, calme. On se consolait
presque de donner cette parcelle sereine à l’éternité. Mais on pensa
tout à coup, un inconnu qui se trouvait là pensa à lui dire qu’il
mourait pour la France. Il se mit alors à pleurer. Il ne chercha plus
d’excuse à sa chute. L’idée de cet honneur en lui détruisit soudain
toute volonté, toute énergie, et ce qui apaisait les autres mourants
n’en fit plus qu’un enfant ébloui, que des sanglots secouaient,
meurtrissant sa dernière heure même. Il se cachait le visage de ses
mains, il appelait désespérément la seule présence qui, désormais,
ne lui était plus refusée: Jacques! Jacques! Puis un général arriva. Il
l’entendit d’avance saluer le corps du mort qu’on avait étendu dans
la première chambre pour que le blessé fût plus tranquille. Il se
souleva pour le recevoir. C’était un vieux général d’aviation, habitué
à ces visites, muet, qui n’avait pas vu sa jambe coupée, qui lui
promit que dans quinze jours il serait remis; qui enfin ému, se
pencha sur lui, affectueux, regarda longuement ce qu’un vieux
général comprend mal, des yeux débordants de larmes, une bouche
qui riait, un masque pur et lisse tenu au visage par d’effroyables
rides. Alors Gonzalve mourut, et le général se retournait atterré,
appelant un prêtre, ne sachant à qui passer cette âme demeurée
dans ses mains malhabiles...
Mais pourquoi ce début à une histoire de petite fille?

Clyton était étendu sur mon lit, endormi. Il avait les cheveux
blonds de Jacques, sa taille. Pendant un mois je rencontrai ainsi,
mais de moins en moins ressemblantes, les images encore libres de
mon ami, puis, un jour, une image à peine reconnaissable, sur un
enfant, et ce fut tout. Je secouai Clyton pour chasser de lui cette
ombre. Il ne bougea pas, saisit ma main au vol, en regarda
distraitement les lignes, et soudain effaré, respectueux et bégayant
comme s’il venait de voir en une seconde toute ma vie, et quelle vie,
il se dressa.
—Ecoutez-moi!
Souvent, sorti en civil, j’avais surpris Clyton, en civil aussi, qui me
suivait de loin. Souvent j’avais reçu des lettres sans signature,
écrites par une femme, et me
priant de passer à midi dans un
rond-point sans arbres, inondé
de soleil. Je sus que Clyton les
mettait à la poste. On m’apprit
aussi qu’il parlait de moi à tout
propos, prétendant que j’avais la
grâce, que j’étais devin, et que
sur dix paroles que je lançais au
hasard, cinq atteignaient leur
objet, blessaient la matière
même du monde. Un jour, dans
son auto, j’avais prononcé par hasard et brutalement le mot pinson.
Au premier arrêt, nous trouvions un pinson mort sur le capot. Le
lendemain matin, pour me moquer de lui, loin de la mer, j’avais
prononcé, mais avec des précautions, le mot mouette. Au déjeuner,
dans la cour de l’hôtellerie, une mouette apprivoisée se promenait,
mais avec une aile tordue.
—Ma sœur Mae veut vous voir, lieutenant. Il s’agit peut-être de
sa vie. Vous me suivez?
—Votre cousine Barbara?
—Ma sœur Mae!
J’eusse certes préféré Barbara que j’avais connue la semaine
passée chez les Thackeray, dans les jardins florentins ornés d’autels
chinois qui descendent au Charles River, et où des moutons
paissent, protégés contre les grosses mouches par des chiens loups.
Le soir tombait. Les deux petits frères Thackeray, dont Teddy a les
yeux bleus, Bill les yeux noirs, jouaient avec leur fox vairon qu’ils se
sont partagés en longueur selon la couleur de leurs yeux et dont ils
tiraient la queue indivise. Dans sa minuscule et ronde culotte de
cheval, Perscilla, leur cadette, qu’on avait pour la première fois de sa
vie photographiée officiellement le matin, se sentait quelque chose
en moins, quelque chose en plus, et n’était point sûre que l’on ne
souffrît pas un peu jusqu’au moment où le cliché enfin est révélé.
Nous étions assis sur la terrasse fermée par de hauts fusains où l’on
découpe des fenêtres diverses avec des cadres en bois d’or pour voir
la plaine, et nous regardions le soleil tout rond par la fenêtre ovale;
au milieu des lilas, des lilas blancs qui sont à Teddy, des violets qui
sont à Billy; au-dessous d’ormes centenaires qui n’avaient pas
ombragé de Français depuis Chateaubriand, et oubliant qu’alors ils
étaient jeunes trouvaient ce nouvel hôte bien petit, bien facile à
couvrir. Par la fenêtre en forme de cœur un rayon éclairait Barbara
d’une lumière de même forme, mais qui semblait émaner d’elle
seule. Ses paupières, son cœur, battaient à intervalles longs mais
réguliers. On m’avait prévenu qu’elle inspire, plus violemment et plus
subtilement que jamais femme inspira l’amour, le désir,—mais
exigeant, insoutenable,
immédiat—du mariage.
Chacune de ses trois
sœurs s’est mariée en un
jour avec un jeune
homme la veille inconnu.
On éprouve près d’elle je
ne sais quel tourment et
quelle sécurité, comme si
l’on avait à son côté une
femme créée de la veille;
on touche cette main
neuve, on délie ces
cheveux épais et on les
livre, pour la première
fois, à la brise; on caresse
et fend du doigt ces lèvres
qui jamais encore ne se
sont ouvertes; on veut
partir sans passé dans un avenir neuf; on se voit, avec Barbara, sous
tous les espaces clos, dans la salle à manger avec les cristaux, dans
la chambre avec un rayon, dans l’auto par la tempête, sous la tente,
où, pour ne pas la réveiller, au lieu d’embrasser son visage, on
cherche sa main à la lampe électrique. On traverse des marais en la
portant dans ses bras. Derrière elle, on la pousse—elle rit, se
raidissant—jusqu’au haut des arènes; elle détourne son ombrelle
vers les gradins de sorte qu’on embrasse un visage étincelant de
soleil. On entend le pasteur, le jour du mariage,—demain,—vous
dire:—Réfléchissez, imprudent jeune homme, vous avez encore une
seconde; pensez aux autres femmes, aux brunes, à leur fidélité, et à
leur délire; à leurs yeux dans les théâtres, à leurs belles joues qu’on
appelle sanglantes... On répond:—Je veux Barbara! je veux
Barbara!...
Mais les enfants autour de nous devenaient insupportables.
Perscilla courait vers la maison, en rapportait des mots italiens tout
neufs, courait encore, revenant avec des mots français—et l’on
devinait qu’elle avait parlé à sa bonne italienne, à l’institutrice
française. Puis l’ombre tomba, et Teddy vint s’asseoir entre nous,
nous séparant, tout triste, car, sans qu’il le sache encore, il
l’apprendra toujours assez tôt, ce n’est pas le jour, malgré ses yeux
bleus, c’est la nuit qui lui appartient.
Mae Clyton était plus belle même, disait-on, que Barbara.

Mae avait seize ans. Depuis son enfance, elle vivait chez elle sans
jamais être sortie, et souvent désirait mourir. On n’avait trouvé à ce
mal qu’un remède: l’amitié. Mais, inconstante, elle détestait soudain,
au bout de cinq ou six semaines, l’ami qu’elle avait adoré et appelait
la mort par son nom. Avant donc que le mois commençât, Clyton lui
amenait un homme, une femme nouvelle, qu’il lui avait appris,
pendant l’amitié et le mois précédent, à désirer. Toute l’Amérique se
prêtait à ce jeu, car la beauté de Mae devenait célèbre, on l’appelait
Scheherazade, et l’on s’ingéniait à la conserver à la vie par un conte
qui ne s’achevât point. Clyton recevait par paquets les lettres
d’inconnus ou de gens illustres qui se proposaient eux-mêmes,
offraient ou des amis parfaits, ou (pour varier) des amis bizarres, ou
tout ce qui était la renommée d’une famille, d’une ville: la fille du
ministre des finances guatémalien dont on voyait les trois corps
astraux à la lueur des cocuyos, le champion du monde au tennis.
Clyton avait d’abord choisi tous ceux qu’un sacrifice à l’amitié avait
rendu célèbres, Marjorie Dupont, qui sauva de la mer à dix ans
Muriel Aspinwall, qui vivait depuis avec elle, qui l’abandonna (tout un
mois de juillet, le mois qu’elles passaient à se baigner dans leur
plage) pour Mae: Edith Bronte, dont on avait ravi au berceau la sœur
jumelle, qui depuis la cherchait sans cesse, frissonnante devant
chaque miroir inattendu. Puis étaient venues à la villa les gloires de
la mode, auxquels Mae ne voulut jamais parler de leur talent: Edvina
qui ne put chanter pendant le mois le plus long et le plus sonore
d’Amérique; Sargent auquel Mae refusait de poser dans son sommeil
même, se tournant sans cesse; on devait mettre le lit au milieu de la
chambre et Sargent peignait en en faisant le tour. De temps en
temps Clyton choisissait au hasard dans les lettres, et aujourd’hui il
en gardait deux:
—Mon nom est Adélaïde de los Montes. Votre sœur veut-elle voir
quelqu’un qui n’a jamais rien vu? Je ne suis point sortie non plus de
ma maison et je viendrai, si Mae le veut, dans un train spécial et
fermé! Ci-joint mes cheveux blonds. La tête de l’oiseau qui n’a pas
volé est moins douce, me disent les poètes d’ici, à la main.
Poètes de Californie, consciencieux, qui passent leur temps à
caresser les têtes d’oiseaux qui n’ont pas volé!...
—Mon nom est Jeanne Blanchard. Vous m’appellerez, Mae,
quand vous saurez comment j’imagine la vie. Je l’imagine comme un
bonheur sans bornes, comme une fulguration, comme un cœur sans
limites. Chaque matin, au réveil, je me précipite à la fenêtre; je vois
la mer infinie, le ciel qui tout embrasse; je me dis que ce sont des
nains à côté de mon bonheur. De joie, je sanglote. Quel doit être le
vôtre, qui êtes belle, riche, qui n’êtes pas seule en ce monde!
Vous devinez pourquoi Clyton m’enlevait.
Cette nuit, l’ami du mois allait partir, Lee, le poète,—il était
devenu amoureux, Mae déjà le détestait,—et Clyton avait reçu, à
midi seulement, un message de celle qui devait être l’amie du
nouveau mois; elle retardait son voyage. C’était Mary Miles Minter,
l’enfant qu’on voit dans les cinémas au premier acte toujours pauvre,
au dernier acte toujours riche (ne pas s’aviser de tourner le film à
rebours), sauvée de la rue par un lord, du music-hall par un
milliardaire déguisé en barman, qui apprivoise les mégères dont la
bru empoisonna le fils, les brigands auxquels une fille a truqué le
télégramme annonçant la mort de leur mère; et qu’on voit à la fin du
film s’étendre dans sa propre image agrandie, comme l’enfance dans
la jeunesse. Mae ne supporterait point de ne pas trouver au réveil
son amitié nouvelle; un gouffre pareil s’était produit voilà six mois;
haineuse, silencieuse, elle refusait de manger, de boire. Les animaux
précieux que Clyton avait couru acheter à New-York, le renard bleu
apprivoisé, l’ocelot, elle semblait ne pas les voir, elle marchait sur
eux sans pitié; l’ocelot, qui ne connaissait pas auparavant les
humains, s’indignait, cassait tout, devint enragé. A cette époque,
d’ailleurs, Mae ne savait pas que l’on se tue, mais depuis, je vous
dirai peut-être comment, elle l’avait appris, et tout était à craindre si
je ne venais pas.
 Nous arrivions. L’auto gravissait maintenant les allées en lacet
d’un jardin. En bas, la mer, et sur le rivage les statues tranquilles des
Muses, couvertes de longs voiles; à mi-côte sur la terrasse, une
piscine de marbre, bordée de torses antiques, agités, à demi vêtus;
on devinait dans la maison, au-dessus d’une baignoire taillée dans
une opale, un vrai cœur vivant, tout nu. Au fond d’un labyrinthe de
buis, perdue, une fillette appelait, sans voir la chouette au-dessus
d’elle qui dessinait le bon chemin. Les héliotropes se relevaient peu à
peu pour n’avoir pas à tourner de tout un arc dans la seconde où le
soleil reparaîtrait. Les jeunes fleurs de rosiers, écloses voilà une
heure, satisfaites d’avoir vécu une heure, roses ignorantes, croyaient
se fermer pour toujours. Poussés par la brise marine, à peine salés,
les parfums du même jasmin nous inondaient dans chaque allée à la
même hauteur. C’était la nuit. Un cargo de plomb dormait sur l’océan
léger; de lourds mélèzes sur la clarté; le ciel tout sombre sur un
nuage blanc; et l’on eût retourné le monde qu’il en eût été plus
solide. C’était la nuit. Des mouettes volaient en ligne, formant un
nom qu’on ne pouvait comprendre, car il était composé de lettres
toutes semblables, argentées du côté du couchant,—puis elles se
dispersèrent, une seule resta et l’on comprit. On comprit le mot
Solitude, le mot Espace, la phrase: "agité par les vents". La lune
apparaissait entière, c’était le soir où aucun astre ne se glisse entre
elle et moi. C’était la nuit, et, un long moment, entêté comme un
roulier qui ne veut pas allumer sa lanterne, je m’enfonçai dans cette
nuit sans appeler la pensée et ce nom qui éclairent pour moi toute
ombre. Mais je me heurtais durement à chaque obstacle, au cri
lointain de la fillette, aux maisons endormies, à chaque étoile. Ils me
meurtrissaient, ils m’atteignaient en plein visage... Alors je pensai à
toi, rêve, et ils s’écartèrent...
—C’est la nuit, dis-je.
Clyton frissonna, me regarda de biais, comme si nous allions la
trouver à l’arrêt, nuit expirante, clouée sur notre capot.

Lee était dans le salon où me laissa Clyton. J’avais vu des

portraits de lui, je le reconnus, mais il n’avait plus ses yeux
provocants, son front qui étincelle. Toutes ces qualités contraires
qu’il aimait cultiver en lui séparées, l’arrogance et l’humilité, l’énergie
et l’indolence, la générosité et l’envie, maintenant se mélangeaient
et il ne se trouvait plus qu’une âme médiocre et confuse. Il ne
l’avouait pas, la guerre en était cause.
—La guerre gâtera le métier des cowboys, avait-il déclaré
d’abord.
—Que les femmes prennent garde, avait-il dit ensuite. La guerre
est leur mort!
Or les cowboys gardaient leur prestige, les femmes continuaient,
en masse, à vivre. C’est son métier à lui, son métier de poète, qui
était gâté. Il se tenait, au début de la guerre, à la limite du génie. Je
venais de lire ses œuvres: il atteignait le sublime, non encore par la
pensée, mais par les transparences de son style, par un mot placé
de telle sorte dans presque chaque vers qu’il en jaillissait je ne sais
quelle lueur, quel éclatement, qui d’ailleurs mourait aussitôt. Il s’était
rendu compte de ce talent à piquer l’âme de brûlures. Tous ses
derniers poèmes, comme pour provoquer enfin l’embrasement,
avaient pour sujet la flamme, l’étincelle, les yeux, Suzaia et ses
oiseaux brûlants. Un jour tout flamberait... Mais la guerre était
venue.
Tout ce qu’il avait entassé chez lui comme une panoplie, le droit
de souffrir, de faire souffrir, de tuer, de se tuer, tout ce qu’il
considérait à juste titre comme ses biens propres et ses armes dans
toute l’Amérique, fut distribué par elle au moindre soldat d’Europe.
Les permissionnaires français dans les rues de New-York portaient
sur eux mille marques, qu’il avait cru réservées à lui seul, le
regardaient du regard qu’il savait trouver devant un miroir mais qui
lui échappait encore devant un homme autre que lui. Il les suivait
toute une journée, il essayait de reprendre à la dérobée sur eux un
de ses propres sentiments, ils les emmenait boire, et de même qu’il
s’enivrait pour se venger de lui-même, il les enivrait. Chaque victoire,
française, ou serbe, ou allemande, l’exaspérait; il ne pouvait
supporter cette gloire sans cesse en remous, ni surtout cette vie
exaspérée que prenaient maintenant les noms propres; ces noms de
chefs inconnus soudain illustres, ces noms médiocres de l’Ourcq, de
Verdun s’élargissant sans fin, ces noms sur lesquels toute une
semaine, Cambrai, Sédul-Bahr, se posait l’aurore même... pour
s’évanouir; et ces déblaiements du moindre village qui rendaient plus
en gloire que toute une nécropole antique. Son plus grand orgueil
avait été de créer une fois un nom propre: "Pan Bix", le héros de
tous ses livres, un Esprit, frère d’Ariel. Enfantinement, il se
surprenait à opposer ce nom à tous ceux que créait sa rivale, Pan
Bix la Marne, Pan Bix Guynemer. Mais Pan Bix, qui tenait encore sa
petite place, sémillant, près de Desdémone, près de Fantasio,
devenait dans ce nouveau domaine, et près d’Hindenburg aussi, un
pitre ridicule.
Donc, près du foyer, il était là, avec sa main droite inutile qu’il
brûla le soir de ce jour où il frappa son meilleur ami. Tout en lui
d’ailleurs semblait avoir commis un sacrilège et l’avoir expié par le
plus beau sacrifice. Son regard si vif avait un halo terne; avait-il vu
son amie le jour où son amie mentait? sa parole n’employait que des
mots bégayants; avait-il dit du mal de sa mère? et sa pensée, partie
toujours d’un côté délaissé de l’âme, surprenait comme la balle d’un
joueur de tennis gaucher... Il répondit à peine à mon salut. Il
regarda mon uniforme, demanda si le revolver était chargé,—je
l’ignorais; me questionna sur ma vie à Boston, sur mon sabre, et je
répondis encore de façon évasive, et je veillai à ce qu’il ne sût point
si j’étais ou non dangereux. Puis, m’abandonnant, il se promena
dans la salle. Malgré ma défiance je l’admirais. On le sentait lire par
profession dans chaque lumière, dans chaque ombre comme un
devin lit dans la main. On le sentait frappé par les moindres signes
de ce rébus distribué pour les poètes sur les objets qui semblent les
plus familiers. Il posa son index tendu sur une statuette couchée, il
l’y maintint tant que je ne sais quel nœud ne fût pas fait et refait
autour d’elle. Il ouvrit un livre de Longfellow, au hasard, mais ce fut
à la page où Longfellow avait écrit de sa main, en long de la marge,
un distique qui donnait un nouveau sens au poème; il souriait, il
inclinait la tête, il pensait à un archet étendu près de son violon. Il
ne me savait pas poète; il agissait sans discrétion, se croyant seul
avec elle, avec la Poésie. Il s’arrêtait brusquement, rayonnait,
écoutant en lui,—n’entendant rien, furieux. Il aiguisait sans pudeur
ses sens, son odorat, en plongeant la tête sans mesure, avec les
oreilles qui n’avaient rien à y faire, dans une touffe de seringat, sa
vue en promenant des regards sur deux boules de cristal placées sur
une table, et soudain il regarda mes yeux. Il ne les quitta plus. Il
s’assit en face de moi...
Le feu flamba soudain, feu d’été traître, qui fit un signal à l’hiver.
Au loin les tramways glissaient, les verges éclatant en globes de feu
aux aiguillages des trolleys, cerveau des tramways, donnant tout ce
que donne un tramway de pensée, une étincelle. Le vieux monsieur
de la villa voisine rentrait de sa promenade et tapait, comme chaque
soir, pour la vider, sa pipe contre la plaque en marbre du petit
obélisque de Washington. Lee semblait m’avoir choisi pour victime,
et c’est de cette nuit, en effet, qu’il a daté son poème sur moi. Je le
sentais supprimer de mon visage ce qui le gênait, mes cheveux qu’il
a décrits bruns; m’ajouter une moustache; me donner deux
béquilles, jeter autour de moi cet échafaudage qu’on construit
autour d’une tour, chez nous, avant de la réparer. Parfois il se frottait
les mains, il ricanait; il me prenait je ne sais quel esprit, quelle forme
et j’eus l’impression quand il disparût, qu’un maillot, une ombre de
soie, entre mes vêtements et mon corps, avait été dérobée. Parfois,
il tirait un carnet de sa poche, lisait, me contemplait et coupait à ma
taille la métaphore qu’un enfant, un oiseau, lui avait inspirée le
matin; et, tout d’un coup, la raison de son poème découverte, il me
combla de prévenances; il me présenta une cigarette de sa main
valide; il prodigua son côté gauche, son côté intact, m’offrit des
mots, des regards qui n’avaient jamais outragé personne: le mot
"cher officier", le mot "cher Français". Je prenais la cigarette de ma
main droite, car mon bras gauche est blessé; je répondais à ses
regards de mon œil droit, car mon œil gauche est myope; je jouais à
mon insu, mais avec perfection, le rôle de l’Innocence qu’il m’a
donné dans ses vers; et comme je me levai, il se leva et il me suivit
à la fenêtre, et il me dit le nom anglais des fleurs; et il insistait
poliment sur la prononciation; et il me traitait tout à fait comme Elle.

—Mon lieutenant, dit Clyton. Venez!

C’était l’heure où la lune aspire ceux qu’elle aime à la hauteur
des toits, où les somnambules, effleurées par la brise, avancent pas
à pas sur les fils de fer tendus pour elles, par leurs parents, entre le
château et l’annexe. Un oiseau de nuit et un oiseau de jour, égarés,
voletaient dans la même chambre: fallait-il éteindre, fallait-il
illuminer pour que chacun d’eux pût partir? C’était l’heure où Mae,
dans son premier sommeil, subitement attristée, se lamentait. Des
larmes coulèrent de ses paupières closes. Tous les soirs, à la même
heure, ainsi que jaillit, bue aussitôt, une source d’eau pure au fond
de l’Océan, naissait ce petit désespoir, larmes sans amertume, au
milieu de la Nuit. J’étais penché un peu à l’écart, et mon ombre ne la
couvrait pas, courbée sur le lit devant elle. C’était l’heure où sans
conscience, elle s’attachait tendrement, et l’on sentait qu’en rêve elle
aimait embrasser un visage. Rêve léger, mais plus lourd pour elle
que sa vie, et, croyant se pincer pour être sûre de ne pas dormir, elle
pinçait sans force ma main. Puis, toujours rêvant, comme une
déesse enfant le ferait de sa main coupée, elle appuya ma main sur
sa joue fraîche, elle la cacha dans ses cheveux blonds innombrables,
elle l’embrassa. Puis, ouvrant sans chagrin ses yeux humides, elle
choisit deux petits regards clairs qui se promenaient dans mes
regards plus larges comme les rayons de deux visages jeunes dans
le faisceau noir d’un film et,—j’aurais tout donné pour qu’elle me
sourît,—fronçant de colère ses sourcils noirs, durcissant de rage ses
yeux bleus, tendant son front irrité, Mae pour la première fois me
sourit.
—C’est vous, me dit-elle, où est Lee?
Elle parla plusieurs fois de Lee ce premier soir, à chacun de mes
gestes comparant, rattachant les gestes de Lee; sans doute pour
qu’il n’y eût pas d’intervalle dans sa ronde d’amis, rattachant nos
pensées et se trompant parfois, comme un mauvais télégraphiste
dans ses fils rattache la peine au plaisir, la confiance au désespoir.
Ainsi, le dernier jour, elle dirait à Mary Miles, si Mary riait que j’étais
triste, si Mary était triste que j’étais tendre...
—Lee est parti, dit Clyton.
Or Mae si sévère et timide au début de chaque amitié, qui ne
recevait ses amis hommes qu’habillée et coiffée, me tendit ses bras
nus, m’assit près d’elle, et, ne retrouvant plus dans sa chevelure
cette main coupée qu’elle y avait cachée tout à l’heure, caressa
tendrement ma main, s’étonnant qu’elle eût même chaleur, même
forme que l’autre.
—Posez votre manteau, dit Clyton.
Je jetai mon manteau. C’était le premier poète en uniforme
qu’elle voyait, en uniforme bleu clair, avec des boutons de bois
peints en bleu clair, poète invisible sur les champs de bataille. Elle
me regardait, fière d’elle, comme si elle arrivait à voir un être
invisible. Elle écoutait mon français, non sans orgueil, comme si elle,
Mae, pouvait entendre un être muet.
—Un ami, dit-elle, enfin!
Derrière la porte, Lee s’agitait, toussait. Jamais remords ou
regret dans un cœur ne fit plus de bruit que Lee dans ce salon. Il
exagérait. Nous n’étions pas les deux premiers poètes qui se soient
jeté, d’un monde à l’autre, une jeune fille nue dans son voile.

—J’ai rêvé, dit Mae, que j’avais trois corps égaux, et chacun, le
matin, partait de son côté. Deux sont perdus.
Des bouleaux flambaient dans la cheminée, j’en voyais les lueurs
dans ses yeux, et, allumés à l’âtre même, au vrai feu, déjà y
brûlaient ces feux de l’amitié, qui pour les simples humains
s’allument une fois, deux fois au cours de toute leur vie, une fois
chaque lune dans le cœur de Mae.
—La chambre de Mary Miles est prête, dit-elle. Vous y coucherez.
Mais parlez-moi. Clyton dit que vos mots tuent les êtres; prononcez
mon nom; prononcez-le encore. Quelle voix profonde est la vôtre!
Voilà morts mes deux corps errants! Tout ce qui existe, tout ce qui
palpite et respire de Mae est devant vous. Oh! que m’arrive-t-il?
Avez-vous donc pensé mon nom?
Je voulus parler de Mary Miles; mourir par elle, lui donner la main
dans cette ronde autour de Mae m’était doux. Mais Clyton disposait
sur la table des portraits. C’était des photographies de moi, que je
ne connaissais point, prises par lui à mon insu et sur toutes j’étais
solitaire. Seul au milieu des rues toujours encombrées, seul au fond
d’une auto qui roulait sans chauffeur, et Mae égoïste, pouvait sans
peine imaginer que le monde est un grand monde vide et qu’elle
seule a des amis. Mon sourire cependant annonçait parfois qu’il y
avait un être vivant dans mon voisinage, pas un être semblable à
nous sans doute, car j’avais les yeux levés, mais un chat, un
écureuil, un titan. D’ailleurs, d’instinct, elle préféra le seul portrait
que Clyton n’eût pas truqué, celui où j’étais vraiment seul, assis sur
le perron du Polo-Club, un ours empaillé à ma droite avec des
drapeaux dans son collier, où le vent soufflait, où les cèdres du
bosquet étaient durement battus par les arbres encore sans
feuillage, où, la petite girouette du Club l’indiquait, j’étais tourné
vers mon pays, vers mon enfance; où je souffrais enfin d’être arrivé
à l’âge où l’on n’est plus que soi, rien que soi...
Or, décidé à ne pas me prêter au jeu puéril de Clyton, à guérir
Mae, je résolus de lui apprendre ce qu’est la vie.
Ce soir-là, je lui parlai d’abord des villes. De Pau, qui fait le tour
des Pyrénées avec ses petits tramways rouges qui stoppent d’eux-
mêmes à chaque marque et chaque femme rouge, où les médecins
promènent sans cesse de longs cortèges de bœufs au joug, pour
imposer à la cité le seul rythme sensé, où chaque bébé dans le parc
Beaumont a droit à un paon qui le suit, au ciel toujours bleu duquel,
chaque semaine, un enfant de vingt ans, avec des grands cheveux
peignés à l’argentine, tombe mort. De Coulonge-sur-l’Autize, où les
employés de la poste, en France, ont l’ordre d’envoyer les poèmes
égarés ou anonymes. De Montargis où la belle Simone, suivie de sa
nourrice, au bord de ruisseaux écumants et que l’ombre des
peupliers zèbre, pour arrêter son âge soudain s’arrête, et la nourrice,
sa distance un moment perdue, part affolée à reculons. De
Buzançais où chaque soir, entre quatre et cinq, l’écluse bruissant, un
enfant songeur refuse de répondre, de jouer, de faire collation; son
père le bat, le jette dehors et parfois il tombe au soleil. De la France
en un mot, où les êtres ne sont pas des apparences qui surgissent
selon vos besoins, mais où chacun, pris au hasard, a son histoire, sa
vie durable—et parfois, pour en être sûr, je suis resté près du même
des années entières sans qu’un seul de ses gestes ait trahi qu’il
n’existait pas.
—Je rêve, disait Mae...
Liée à un petit corps timide et immobile, elle agitait ses bras,
secouait sa tête, je caressais une sirène-enfant. Curieuse, elle
avançait sur le rivage même de la vie où je l’attirais non sans ruse.
D’abord je lui contai le plus beau rêve qu’un homme ait jamais fait.
Puis je lui dis la plus belle histoire véritable. Au loin la mer étincelait,
mais couverte de rayons cassés et morts, et je ne sais quel poète
hypocrite y avait pêché à la grenade. Parfois j’avais à prononcer un
mot étrange et dangereux, le mot "Oubli", le mot "Joie", le mot
"Haine" et alors j’entendais Lee aux écoutes s’agiter, s’inquiéter de
me voir manier de telles armes comme un soldat quand le civil
prétend dévisser un obus. Parfois des oiseaux, effarés de tant de
clartés, voletaient autour des fenêtres, puis se réfugiaient à tire-
d’ailes vers le cœur de l’ombre, dans le cyprès du centre de la
pelouse, s’y retrouvaient tous et trouvaient ce soir-là la nuit bien
étroite. Alors, écoutant ce bruit des ailes, bienheureux, nous nous
souriions, nous pensions à ce qu’il y a de plus petit et de plus
frissonnant, au cœur des oiseaux endormis. Puis, tristes, nous
pensions à nos propres cœurs, si proches, nous pensions à leur
taille, à leur poids, à leur douce forme, à la fossette qu’y cause la
flèche en s’enfonçant. Elle s’étonnait de n’avoir pas à revenir, avec ce
nouvel ami, au point d’où elle partait chaque mois; elle en éprouvait
un espoir infini; quelle vie divine, si désormais, chaque amitié, au
lieu de la détruire, s’amoncelait sur l’amitié! Nos deux visages
étaient à la même hauteur, aucun de nous maître de l’autre, elle
m’attira vers elle, posa ses lèvres sur mes lèvres, et soudain son
corps entier s’agita, s’évanouit: l’idée d’un ami unique en Mae venait
de naître, bue par un grand sommeil.

Le jour va se lever. Ma voiture revient à toute vitesse entre la

mer violette et les loteries, les montagnes russes, les panoramas des
interminables plages, tout blanc et or, avec des glaces où mon
chauffeur se regarde chaque fois. Une bise aigre souffle; de gros
rayons maladroits nous frappent, durs comme des palettes. Mary
Miles a pu venir, malgré son télégramme, et j’ai dû quitter Mae
endormie. Clyton ne lui parlera jamais de moi; mes photographies
sont en morceaux, on lui dira qu’elle a rêvé... La mer, comme une
ville, rejette à nos pieds tout ce que le jour d’hier a sali en elle, les
algues touchées par quelque plongeur, les méduses mortes, et tous
ces objets acceptés dans son sein avec dignité dont elle met un jour
à comprendre la dérision, de vieux chapeaux, de vieilles chaises.
Tout le long du rivage, les becs électriques brûlent encore, mais sans
reflet dans l’eau laiteuse. Heure sinistre! Heure où sur mon pays,
dans la tranchée, la sentinelle se réveille, se promène avec ses
lourds souliers, et l’on entend à nouveau le bruit de l’homme contre
sa planète sèche.
Je songe à Mae. Je songe à son réveil, dans quelques heures; à
son silence devant Mary Miles, car elle n’osera jamais interroger son
frère; à ce petit aiguillon dans son cœur; à ce baiser qu’elle ne croit
pas avoir donné, à cette main perdue qu’elle cherchera tout le jour
dans ses cheveux; à ce qu’elle pense un rêve; à ce jeune homme un
peu triste, avec ses yeux, un peu bavard, avec ses villes, mais qui lui
tendit les bras dans un costume invisible, qui la pressa—car sa
mémoire chaque jour enrichira son rêve—sur son cœur enflammé,
dont on voyait vraiment les flammes; qui la porta à travers une forêt
semée de marécages dont on voyait vraiment les vipères et dragons;
qui lui promit de vivre toute la vie près d’elle, de mourir près d’elle,
qui avait tué cent Allemands, qui avait pris Constantinople, qui nulle
part n’existe et ne soupire, nulle part, hélas!—qui est moi...
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