DOHA, March 30, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Millions of migrant workers across the
Gulf face uncertainty as host countries lock down, employers withhold wages
or mull redundancies, and strict coronavirus containment measures lead to
deportations and confinement.
“We’ve been in lockdown for the last eight to 10 days, we don’t know when
it will end,” said a 27-year-old Pakistani engineer in Qatar beginning a
second week under mandatory quarantine.
“The basic issue we are facing now is groceries. The government is
providing us with food but only after some days — and little things only.”
He is among tens of thousands of workers strictly confined to Doha’s
Industrial Area after dozens in the blue-collar district tested positive for
the COVID-19 virus.
Advocacy groups including Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty warn that
cramped accommodation and inadequate sanitation endanger migrant workers
across the Gulf, who may not have access to healthcare.
They also face salaries going unpaid and arbitrary dismissal or deportation
— an outcome that could spell disaster for families at home dependent on
their income.
– ‘Already disadvantaged’ –
“Migrant workers in the Gulf are already disadvantaged (under) a labour
governance system that gives employers excessive powers over migrant workers
and drives their abuse and exploitation,” HRW’s Gulf researcher Hiba Zayadin
told AFP.
“Gulf countries should go above and beyond in introducing measures to
prevent the spread of the virus in migrant accommodations and migrant
detention centres.”
With the region so far reporting 3,200 cases of the disease, Amnesty said
that workers “trapped in camps” are particularly vulnerable, enduring
conditions that make social distancing impossible.
Foreign workers in the oil-rich Gulf region, predominantly from Bangladesh,
India, Nepal and Pakistan, account for around 10 percent of all migrants
worldwide.
Many who spoke to AFP say they now fear for their health and job security.
– Saudis receive paid leave –
Some labourers in Saudi Arabia, home to 10 million expat workers,
complained that they were required by bosses to work while Saudis were
permitted paid quarantine leave.
One said he was told to accept unpaid leave if he felt unwell, but opted to
continue working.
“Many workers in the private sector are suffering due to the closure of
most sectors, as many owners force the workers to sit in their homes without
a salary,” an Arab diplomat based in Riyadh told AFP.
“And despite the kingdom’s compensation to the private sector, the owners
use it to cover their losses due to the closure without caring for the
workers.”
After Saudi Arabia, the UAE hosts the Gulf’s second largest migrant labour
force with 8.7 million, followed by Kuwait with 2.8 million.
In Kuwait, Um Sabrine, an Egyptian beauty salon manager, said she would not
be paid because of the government’s closure of non-essential businesses.
While she plans to sue her employer, many in the region are reluctant to
speak out for fear of reprisals. Others believe the health situation is worse
in their home countries.
– World Cup rolls on –
Gas-rich Qatar’s record on migrant labour has been under the spotlight
since it won the right to host the 2022 World Cup, with seven new football
stadiums as well as towering skyscrapers to be built by an army of foreign
workers.
Ninety percent of Qatar’s 2.75 million people are expats. Many are from
developing countries and working on projects linked to the tournament —
stadium construction has continued even as other businesses have shuttered.
Rights groups have previously criticised labour practices in Qatar, which
has responded with initiatives to enhance worker welfare. But the lockdown of
the densely populated Industrial Area has drawn scrutiny.
“They identified a ground-zero and it was very easy for them to shut it
down quickly,” said one Western diplomat.
“Would they have done it if it had been somewhere in the Pearl? I don’t
know,” she added, referring to an artificial island popular with wealthy
expatriates.
Qatari officials insisted last week’s sealing of the area, now ringed by
police, was essential to save lives. They also say they have flooded the area
with medical resources and pledged to pay missed salaries.
– ‘I’m scared’ –
The International Labour Organization’s Doha office said several employers
had transferred staff to more spacious lodgings over fears cramped conditions
could incubate the virus, while others have improved hygiene.
A Sri Lankan supermarket worker, 23, said his communal villa was sanitised
and cleaned in response to COVID-19, but anxiety persisted.
“I’m homesick — my mother keeps asking me to come back.”
One Turkish salesman, 49, told AFP he was self-isolating as a precaution
and was on unpaid leave.
“I’m scared to get infected,” said the man who, like many Gulf expats, is
ineligible for sick pay.
At least 20 Nepalese migrant labourers were deported by Qatar for ignoring
containment rules, Nepalese officials told AFP, even though Kathmandu has
sought to block returnees.
The ILO questioned how long companies could continue paying workers as the
crisis continues, chilling Gulf economies which have been blindsided by the
plunge in oil prices.
Mass redundancies, avoided so far, would do huge economic damage to
countries sending labour to the region, said the head of the ILO’s Qatar
office, Houtan Homayounpour.
“The impact is disastrous.”