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As Korean horror drama “Squid Game” draws the world to its Netflix accounts, a lesser-known diaspora is entering. Thousands of Pakistanis have been in South Korea for decades, but the character of Ali Abdul, played by Indian actor Anupam Tripathi, is now making their stories visible to a global audience.
Ali, a migrant factory worker whose boss has withheld his salary for months, is forced to leave his wife and baby to try his luck and win millions in deadly games.
Upon the release of the series, the character of Tripathi immediately became a fan favorite.
“We thought it would be well received, but when it became a phenomenon and a sensation, it was not expected – I was not prepared,” Tripathi told Variety.
Over the past week, debates over his performance have gone viral, with some claiming that his submissive way of speaking – constantly referring to those around him as “sir” – makes them uncomfortable. Others say it’s just a reality for migrant workers facing abuse and barriers in the country.
“Please explain why Squid Game portrays the only non-Korean main character as a dark-skinned man who cries all the time for ‘gentlemen’, gratitude, sacrifice and submission.” one person tweeted.
“South Asians learn from an early age to be selfless and caring,” said another. “We are a collective society which is unfortunately often exploited. “
CedarBough T. Saeji, assistant professor of Korean and East Asian studies at Pusan National University in South Korea, said it was a combination of the two. To understand how Ali is spelled, she says, it’s important to know how he got there.
Foreign immigrants were first allowed in South Korea in 1993, when the country’s rapid development made it impossible to fill all blue-collar jobs in manufacturing, construction and agriculture. “Industrial interns” began to come to the country from other parts of Asia in search of better opportunities.
“The situation they faced was incredibly exploitative,” Saeji told NBC Asian America.
Employers paid them very low wages and sometimes even seized their passports and paid them nothing at all. Since their visas were directly tied to their businesses and there were no foreign language options to report exploitation, they often had no options. Isolation, small housing and hazardous work environments were constant realities.
Many moved to other businesses in the hope of better conditions, only to find that they had become undocumented because their visas no longer applied to their new employer.
“They have become this illegal subclass in Korean society,” Saeji said.
The organization in the early 2000s led many migrant workers to learn Korean and fight for better conditions. More protective laws have been passed, but these conditions and the rampant anti-immigrant sentiment still exist.
Pakistani immigrants are not even in the top 20 of the largest foreign populations in South Korea. The country with the most immigrants is China, with over a million people in the country, followed by Vietnam and Thailand, each with over 200,000. The number of immigrants to Pakistan is rising at around 13,000, but Saeji noted that their struggle mirrors that of the larger population of migrant workers.
A Southeast Asian character, Player 276 (played by Filipino actor Christian Lagahit), appears in “Squid Game” and befriends Ali in the fourth episode.
Chung Ki-seon, a researcher at Seoul National University, predicted that the need for migrant labor will only increase as Korea’s population ages and shrinks, especially in the high-pressure agriculture industry. labor-intensive, where more and more foreign and undocumented workers continue to use.
“The approximate age of the [Korean] the people working in the fields right now are over 70, ”she told NPR this year. “And once they are 75 or older, it will be difficult for them to stay in the workforce.”
Although she said the need is recognized by the government and policies are starting to change, it is still very difficult for migrant workers to become citizens. South Korea has more than 392,000 undocumented workers and their conditions are grim.
Korean authorities pledged reform earlier this year after a 31-year-old Cambodian farm worker died on the job. Field workers are often left to sleep in plastic shipping containers or unventilated huts, the Associated Press reported, where the woman died.
Although Saeji noted that Ali speaks almost perfect Korean, she guessed that he was undocumented, given his inability to fight the withholding of his salary by reporting his boss. The formality of the way he speaks is another telling of his predicament, as it is common for foreigners who have learned the language in the context of speaking to their exploiting employers.
“He speaks volumes, but he also plays the role of this person who has been abused,” she said. “He tries so hard not to make anyone angry, even though he is in this desperate situation.”
Korean media have long perpetuated the stereotype of the migrant worker as a simpleton with foul language and exaggerated manners, and Saeji said Ali does not completely transcend that.
“It certainly does not go beyond the role that has been given to foreign factory workers,” she said. “He’s still stuck in this story. But on the other hand, if he doesn’t work for an exploitative boss, if he doesn’t have the money, then why would he play this game? ”
The most unrealistic part of Ali’s story for Saeji is that he brought his wife and son with him from Pakistan.
“It is almost impossible to be able to bring a family with one of these types of visas,” she said.
The attachment to Ali and the feeling about how he left the show has continued since its release, with viewers declaring their sympathy and love for him online. He won over audiences for a reason, Saeji said, and his story resonated with a lot of people. He brought to the public the reality of a situation that is not often seen.
“It’s really hard for non-Koreans in this country to get past a certain level,” she said. “It’s just a horrible situation.”
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