We had to pawn all our gold to bring my brother home from Malaysia during the lockdown

My name is Supriya (name changed) and I am 22 years old. I live with my family in Bongaon, North 24 Praganas, West Bengal. When the lockdown began, my livelihood was among the millions that were impacted across the country, and so many people fell under the poverty line for the first time ever. While everyone talks about the impact the lockdown had on migrant workers, nobody wanted to discuss the impact that the lockdown had on people like me.

He was working in Malaysia and had lost his job during the lockdown there. His passport and visa were confiscated by the agent and he was stuck there. My family started pressuring me to do something to bring him back. He did come home but that was not the end of our troubles. We started facing ostracization from distant family members and neighbours because we were now in debt. We had pawned all the gold we had as collateral against the loan.

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With no work, there was no way to pay the loan and the moneylender started harassing us. Things became so tense that there was a medical emergency in the family. This forced me to take another loan.

We are now living in abject poverty now and are not even able to eat properly because the rations that the government gives us are not enough.

My 18-year-old brother has also been forced to give up his studies and is working and earning a paltry Rs 50 a day. I am also trying desperately to get a job but nothing seems to be working out right now.

Every day, people like me are forced to take these high-risk loans because there is no other way for us to feed our families and survive. The money lenders take advantage of our inability to repay the loans on time and threaten us and make life unbearable in our community.

The one thing that keeps me motivated is my role as a leader at Bijoyini, a collective of survivors of trafficking. I use my voice to speak up for survivors who are hesitant to express their thoughts themselves. I have become a very active leader in the community and will continue to fight for our rights.