In this article, Jardar Alai explains this issue at hand.
Photo Credit: DW
The Gulf states are notorious for their new and modern cities, and building projects in cities like Doha and Dubai. Let us tell you why. The countries that we call the gulf states are countries on the Persian Gulf. These countries are Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait. They have large amounts of Oil and that has made these countries wealthy.
The gulf states do not have a large population, so these countries have opened up their border to seek workers from other countries. Large number of South Asians workers cross the borders for this opportunity. The migrants end up getting jobs in the Labour industry. Migrant workers are promised a place to live and a well-paying job, but the rooms that the migrant workers get are a ill-ventilated and small, where they have to share it with 6-12 other workers. They also have to share communal bathrooms and kitchen which are unsanitary and sometimes their communal rooms lack electricity or running water.
It is normal that migrant workers are paid late and very little. A survey in 2019 asked migrant workers in the gulf states how common are pay delays and 80% answered it's very common. The migrant workers take a large loan in their home country to travel to the gulf and the little pay and pay delays just trap them there for more years than planned. After the pandemic hit the gulf states' numerous migrant workers lost their jobs and they couldn't leave the country because of the corona restrictions. Those that still got a job were not allowed to get a day off if they felt sick. If they did, they could be deported or jailed and lose their job. The migrant workers have to choose between their health or livelihood, and that is not only impossible but also unfair. After the Covid-19 outbreak the government of Saudi Arabia and Qatar offered free health care services and Covid-19 tests for the Migrant workers.
Most of the migrant workers ended up in Labour work and the other part ended up in domestic work. When the lockdown happened, most families could not leave their homes and the work of the domestic workers became harder than before. They had to work more hours and also entertain the children in the family with little or no free time for themselves. Domestic workers are not provided Labour law protections across the Gulf therefore their salary is decided by the owner families for whom they work for.
Sources:
Amnesty international(23.04.2020) COVID-19 makes Gulf countries’ abuse of migrant workers impossible to ignore https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2020/04/covid19-makes-gulf-countries-abuse-of-migrant-workers-impossible-to-ignore/ found 8.03.2021
Business & human right human Resources Centre(2019) ALLEGATIONS OF LABOUR ABUSE AGAINST MIGRANT WORKE HTTPS://OLD.BUSINESS-HUMANRIGHTS.ORG/EN/ALLEGATIONS-OF-LABOUR-ABUSE-AGAINST-MIGRANT-WORKERS-IN-THE-GULF FOUND 8.03.2021