Mideast: Spotlight on South Asian Migrant Workers in the Gulf
Reuters
When the Gulf countries of the Arabian peninsula saw a boom in their economy set off by oil price increases in the early 1970’s, a large demand for labor grew and with a small native labor force came a demand for foreign workers. These Foreign workers would come to take up a large percentage of the population in most GCC countries and in countries like the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait became the majority. The majority within this majority were (and are) foreign workers coming from South Asian countries like India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. According to the International Labor Organization in 2017, Arab states had the highest percentage of migrant workers and hosted 13.9% of all migrant workers in the world, most of which came from South Asia. Moreover, according to the United Nations in 2020, over 95% of the labor force in Gulf countries when it comes to construction and domestic work, is comprised of foreign workers. These migrant workers have contributed substantially to the modernization of the Arabian peninsula and their contribution to the workforce and economy of the Gulf countries have resulted in an increase in prosperity in most countries in the Gulf; but this has come at a great expense to foreign workers themselves. The rise of media coverage of the plights of South Asian migrants working in the Gulf has shone a spotlight on the predicament of the Gulf’s main labor force, illustrated by the near-daily reported incidents of migrant abuse and exploitation in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and elsewhere.
The GCC, or the Gulf Cooperation Council, includes every Arab country near the Persian Gulf with the exception of Iraq. In all of the countries of the GCC, migrant workers coming from South Asia play a predominant role in the functioning of the economy and of the labor force. These workers operate in most segments of labor in Gulf countries from construction and low-paid labor to domestic work, and (for some) professional work in fields like banking and engineering. These workers found themselves working in the Gulf after a demand in labor, necessitated by a relatively small national workforce, resulted in the migration of laborers coming from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and other Gulf countries. Because they are the majority of the labor force in the Gulf, and due to the reliance of Gulf countries on migrant workers in the present time, migrants are a major force in Gulf economies and, because of their contributions to the private sector and the workforce, they remain largely responsible for the continuation of stable economies in these countries.
Human Rights Issues And Abuses
The motivation for immigrating and joining the labor force in these Gulf countries largely stemmed from two, disparately motivated, parts of the South Asian population: well-educated professionals looking for lucrative positions in the Gulf and uneducated and low-skilled migrants working the Gulf as low-payed workers. The latter of these two, it comes as no surprise, are inadequately protected by labor laws in the Gulf and are subject to numerous labor and human rights abuses. In almost every GCC country there exist issues regarding the abuse of migrant workers human rights and ongoing incidents of exploitation, human trafficking, physical abuse, and even death taint the image of the Gulf as a place of prosperity and success.
Under the Kafala system, in which migrants are sponsored by companies to enter the Gulf’s labor force and are effectively bound to them, issues of exploitation and forced labor easily pop up in a system where abuse is perpetuated in a continuing cycle of labor migration to the countries where workers are vulnerable to abuse by private companies. Short-term contracts allow for employees to quickly exploit and abandon migrants and the system itself opens itself up to the possibility of human trafficking. Countries like Qatar have introduced reforms, such as abolishing the exit visa system in which migrants were required to obtain an exit permit from their employers to leave the country. Although this indeed leads to reforming the Kafala system, Qatar still requires migrants to obtain employer consent before switching jobs and workers are still substantially beholden to them. Moreover, much more recently, threats from COVID-19 have posed issues for migrant workers as well, with an estimated 3.5 million workers losing their job, further proving the case that these foreign workers are seen as disposable and can be easily pushed from one country to another.
Responses From South Asian Countries
Foreign workers also play a large role in the economies of the South Asian countries which they come from, especially when it comes to remittances. Remittances, transfers of money from foreign workers back to their home countries, are good indicators of the impact that migrant work has on how governments deal with issues of human rights complaints and labor violations. In 2019, India garnered around $82 billion in remittances while Pakistan received $21 Billion and Bangladesh $17 billion; despite this (or perhaps as a testament to this), there remain no significant plans drawn up by the government with South Asia to ease the plight of migrant workers and little push-back when it comes to confronting Gulf countries.
Remittances From Foreign Workers (2019)
In 2015, the Indian government set up the Madad online portal as a means to receive grievances from Indian workers and ex-pats. The initiative, meant to help migrant workers from India, has had its shortcomings not least of which have been superficial replies to complaints and a lack of meaningful resolution. Besides the website, the Indian government has had a history of inaction when it comes to dealing with the plight of migrant workers, and a lack of concerted and strategic efforts to counter abuses and neglect of emigrants has made the Indian response lacking. In Pakistan, where the majority of migrants find work in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and where emigrants have alleviated domestic pressure on the domestic labour market, government response to migrant issues has since 2013 come in the form of cooperation with the International Labour Organization with the development of policy drafted to protect and guarantee the welfare of migrant workers working in the Gulf. This too has been lackluster, as exemplified by a recent policy paper outlining the failures of the Pakistani government inadequately dealing with host countries that commit abuse and with Pakistani nationals who seek help from Pakistani consulars and officials. Bangladeshi response to the plight of migrant workers has largely mirrored the response of both India and Pakistan, although they have reportedly been attempting to bring back Bangladeshi nationals during the COVID pandemic.
Considering the above, South Asian countries, not to mention Gulf countries themselves, are drastically behind in addressing the qualms of migrant workers. With the latter attempting to bring in its native population in the workforce it seems like more focus is paid to the strengthening of its own economy than in an adequate address of the issues and abuses perpetrated against migrant workers, who have arguably done the most when it comes to modernizing the Gulf. It remains to be seen how the Gulf will address its human rights violations against migrant workers, but one thing is certain and that is that unless these problems are addressed the progress and prosperity of the Gulf countries will continue to be tainted by the legacy of its treatment of migrant workers.
