Asked if he only hired Indians, the man replied: “Yes.” He said Portuguese workers cost more and said language was a barrier when dealing with local workers. When the interviewer asked the Indian if the Portuguese were “lazy”, the man replied that they were not lazy, just expensive.
The interviewer then asked him if he preferred working with Indians, to which the businessman responded positively. During the conversation, he also expressed satisfaction with the growing Indian population in the town. The businessman said he was happy that there were more and more Indians in the villages where he worked. When the interviewer asked the businessman how he would feel if large numbers of Portuguese moved to India and started living there, the man said he would not like it. He said he didn’t like the Portuguese “majority” in his Indian city.
The clip went viral on social media and was shared by influencer Mario Nawfal. Indians working abroad have been at the center of debates over immigration, labor costs and integration. Social media netizens commented that these practices were discriminatory against Portuguese workers and that the Indian businessmen’s remarks were hypocritical.
Moreover, in the United States, “America First” conservatives are already pushing for stricter immigration rules so that Indians cannot “replace” Americans in their own countries. Many right-wing influencers and Republican politicians have called for the visa system to be changed so that foreigners cannot find “loopholes” in the program.
Many Indians own businesses in wealthy countries such as the US, UK, Canada, Germany and Australia. In some cases, employers in these countries prefer to hire Indian workers because they are willing to work for lower wages than their own workers.
