Kerala aids mass migration of second generation of nurses to Germany

After the church-driven irregular recruitment of a large number of nurses to Germany from Kerala during the 1960s and 1970s in the post-World War II period, who then earned the epithet “brown angles,” Kerala is now witnessing a second wave of successful and structured recruitment of nurses to Germany. This time, the mass recruitment is being managed jointly by the Kerala government and the German Federal Employment Agency. Already, 900 nurses from Kerala were deployed in Germany, and another batch of 700 will soon leave for Germany.

Though the ancient connection of Kerala with Germany from the early 19th century onwards and the influence of German missionaries were instrumental in triggering the migration of thousands of nurses from Kerala to Germany under the backing of the church, now a ’Triple Win’ programme implemented by NoRKA Roots under the Kerala government in association with the Federal Employment Agency, Germany, is creating the second wave of migration of nurses. The legacy of the nurses who earlier migrated to Germany also set the ground for the second wave of migration.

Speaking to The Hindu, Ajith Kolassery, Chief Executive Officer of NoRKA-Roots – the field agency of the Kerala government’s Department of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs – Kerala has sent over 900 nursing candidates to Germany up to October 2025, and another 700 candidates are at various stages of deployment. Germany had earlier experimented with the recruitment programme with countries like Slovakia, Mexico, Vietnam, etc., before signing an agreement with the Kerala government. However, the Kerala model has evolved as the most successful full-structured recruitment drive to Germany from India, with the programme winning the hearts of the people in Germany, along with setting a win-win situation for the health sector in the host country and nurses in Kerala, which is now fondly called as nursing capital of the country.

The recruitment drive includes identifying the right candidates and skilling them, including imparting German language training in Kerala itself, and deploying the most successful candidates to the destination country. After the successful implementation of the project, Germany also went on to recruit nurses from Karnataka, where Karnataka Vocational Training and Skill Development Corporation (KVTSDC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the German authorities and Telangana.

Further, Germany has expanded the scope of recruitment from Kerala by seeking the deployment of caregivers and electricians, apart from giving vocational training through NoRKA Roots for students who completed Class XII in Science. The most attractive feature of the recruitment programme is that no middlemen are involved in the process, and the entire expense is borne by Germany.

The compassionate care and the colour associated with Indian complexion together led to the coining of the sobriquet ‘brown angels’ during the earlier migration of nurses from Kerala.