Treatment of South Asian labourers in the Gulf Cooperation Council region

2021-03-23T22:56:09Z

2601:602:9200:A6F0:DC00:FBA2:1D14:7A11: /* Sexual abuse of workers */

{{Short description|Human rights concern}}
[[File:Migrant workers in West Bay Doha.jpg|thumb|Migrant workers in Doha, Qatar.]]
The '''treatment of South Asian labourers in the Gulf Cooperation Council region''' is an ongoing issue between members of the [[South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation]] (SAARC) nations and the wealthy oil-rich [[Gulf Cooperation Council]] (GCC). The current large number of migrants from South Asia to the [[Persian Gulf]] began in the 1960s, when the oil boom in the Gulf Arab countries resulted in migrant labourers. This further increased with the development of large mega-cites. With the growth of megacities of [[Dubai]], [[Doha]] and [[Riyadh]],<ref name="middleeasteye">{{Cite web |date=14 June 2017 |title=Gulf crisis: South Asian workers 'forgotten victims' in Qatar |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gulf-crisis-south-asian-workers-forgotten-victims-qatar |website=middleeasteye.net}}</ref> the need for construction labourers grew. Migrants from [[Pakistan]], [[India]] and [[Bangladesh]] were contracted to develop the mushrooming skyscrapers. Many of these migrants were brought into the GCC under the [[kafala system]], a sponsor-based system used in the GCC, which is seen by many human rights groups as highly exploitative, since their passports are confiscated and are forced to work in low-level conditions, with cramped living quarters, low salary, and sometimes even without their due pay; when exploitation is brought up or exposed by media or the labourers, their employers are rarely punished.<ref name="HRW">{{Cite web |date=December 18, 2013 |title=South Asia: Protect Migrant Workers to Gulf Countries |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/12/18/south-asia-protect-migrant-workers-gulf-countries# |website=hrw.org}}</ref><ref name="gandhara">{{Cite web |date=November 11, 2020 |title=Saudi Labor Reforms Still Leave Millions Exposed To Abuse, Exploitation |url=https://gandhara.rferl.org/a/saudi-labor-reforms-still-leave-millions-exposed-to-abuse-exploitation-/30942956.html |website=gandhara.rferl.org}}</ref><ref name="economist">{{Cite web |date=February 6, 2020 |title=How poor Pakistanis are tricked into becoming drug mules|url=https://www.economist.com/asia/2020/02/06/how-poor-pakistanis-are-tricked-into-becoming-drug-mules |website=www.economist.com}}</ref>

==Prison population==
Countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have the highest population of Pakistani prisoners.<ref name="dawn">{{cite web |last1=Rizvi |first1=Yumna |title=The time to demand Saudi Arabia to treat Pakistani workers properly is now |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1436145 |website=DAWN.COM |date=October 1, 2018}}</ref>

2,224 Indians are in jails in Saudi Arabia and 1,606 in the United Arab Emirates.<ref name="indianexpress">{{cite web |title=Telling Numbers: 4,705 Indians in Middle East jails, half of them in Saudi Arabia |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/telling-numbers-4705-indians-in-middle-east-jails-half-of-them-in-saudi-arabia-5591854/ |website=The Indian Express |date=February 20, 2019}}</ref>

In May of 2020, 1000 Bangladeshi labourers who were in prisons and detention camps in the Middle East were allowed to go home. Two weeks after that, 29,000 Bangladeshi workers were sent back to their homeland.<ref name="dailystar">{{cite web |title=1,000 Bangladeshis in prisons, detention camps of Middle East countries return |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/1000-bangladeshis-in-prisons-detention-camps-middle-east-countries-return-1907017 |website=The Daily Star |date=May 31, 2020}}</ref>

==Trafficking of children==
Thousands of boys are trafficked from Pakistan and Bangladesh to the Middle East where they are forced into working as [[Camel racing|camel jockeys]]. Because those who usually win races are small in size, the youngest children are kidnapped.<ref name="voa">{{cite web |title=Thousands of Boys Trapped as Camel Jockeys in Middle East |url=https://www.voanews.com/archive/thousands-boys-trapped-camel-jockeys-middle-east |website=www.voanews.com |date=October 29, 2009}}</ref>

Those who lure Pakistani children present themselves as rich men who are offering them education. After they are kidnapped, they are made to wake up very early and then strapped onto camels. Because the camels run very fast, the boys often fall off and are trampled, causing them broken limbs and organ damage.<ref name="voa"/>

International aid organizations have asked countries in the Middle East to end the use of subcontinental children in their camel races.<ref name="voa"/>

==Terrorism accusations==
Saudi Arabia expelled 40,000 Pakistani workers within four months at the end of 2016 and the early part of 2017, citing security concerns.<ref name="independent">{{cite web |title=Saudi Arabia 'deports 40,000 Pakistani workers over terror fears' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-deports-40000-pakistan-workers-terror-fears-attacks-counter-terrorism-a7578151.html |website=The Independent |date=February 13, 2017}}</ref>

Abdullah Al-Sadoun, chairman of the security committee of the Shoura Council, asked for Pakistani citizens to be scrutinized before being allowed to come into Saudi Arabia.<ref name="saudigazette">{{cite web |last1=Al-Shihri |first1=Mansour |title=39,000 Pakistanis deported in 4 months |url=https://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/39000-pakistanis-deported-4-months/ |website=saudigazette.com.sa |date=February 7, 2017}}</ref>

Nafithat Tawasul of the Interior Ministry in Saudi Arabia announced that 82 Pakistanis were being held in prison as terror suspects.<ref name="saudigazette"/>

==Treatment in the criminal justice system==
Pakistani detainees and their families cited discrimination against them in the Saudi Arabian criminal justice system and Saudi Arabian courts. Saudi Arabia executes more Pakistanis than anyone of any other nationality.<ref name="hrw">{{cite web |title="Caught in a Web" |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/03/07/caught-web/treatment-pakistanis-saudi-criminal-justice-system |website=Human Rights Watch |date=March 7, 2018}}</ref>

Family members of Pakistani detainees said that the Saudia Arabian criminal justice system did not care about the circumstances that the accused brought drugs into the Middle East.<ref name="hrw"/>

Pakistani detainees in Middle Eastern jails sited poor prison conditions like no proper sewage system and no bedsheets for sleeping.<ref name="hrw"/>

Head of general security of [[Dubai]], [[Dhahi Khalfan Tamim]], who is the head of general security of Dubai and a [[Lieutenant General]], "The Pakistanis pose a serious threat to the Gulf communities for the drugs they bring with them to our countries." He said that Bangladeshis have criminal tendencies.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pakistanis pose a threat to Gulf communities, says Dubai security chief |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1399320 |website=DAWN.COM |date=April 3, 2018}}</ref>

==Beating of workers==
Bangladeshi domestic workers like Shefali Begum have complained about being beaten with wires and canes just for asking for food.<ref name="dwcom"/>

Asian women report being choked and punched.<ref>{{cite web |title=Migrant workers abused in UAE homes: rights group |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1140010 |website=DAWN.COM |date=October 24, 2014}}</ref>

==Salary issues==
When Pakistani workers flew to Qatar to work to build the World Cup stadium, many of them were not paid the salary owed to them. A labourer from Pakistan named Qadir Bakhshi had his contract terminated when he asked for his payment. 18 other people were met with the same fate.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Shabbir |first1=Saima |title=Pakistan takes up worker payment issues with Qatar |url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/1689021/world |website=Arab News |date=June 13, 2020}}</ref>

India's foreign ministry received more than 9,500 complaints between January and June 2019 concerning unpaid salaries, no off days and not being given visas to go back home.<ref name="reuters">{{cite web |last1=Nagaraj |first1=Anuradha |title=Trafficked, exploited, ransomed - Indian workers in the Gulf face new test |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-gulf-labour/trafficked-exploited-ransomed-indian-workers-in-the-gulf-face-new-test-idUSKBN1WF03S |website=Reuters |date=September 30, 2019}}</ref>

==Working conditions==
[[Image:Burj Dubai Construction Workers on 4 June 2007.jpg|thumb|right|Migrant workers at the [[Burj Dubai]]]]

In Qatar, the [[Human Rights Watch]] needed to step in after hundreds of South Asian workers died while working in construction.<ref name="dw">{{cite web |title=How will Qatar's labor reforms impact South Asian workers? |url=https://www.dw.com/en/how-will-qatars-labor-reforms-impact-south-asian-workers/a-55122918 |website=DW.COM |date=October 1, 2020}}</ref>

When the Coronavirus started infecting, South Asian labourers are living in unhygienic conditions with no means.<ref name="middleeastmonitor">{{cite web |last1=Siddiqa |first1=Arhama |title=Adapting to the new normal: Covid-19 and Pakistani workers in the Gulf |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201109-adapting-to-the-new-normal-covid-19-and-pakistani-workers-in-the-gulf/ |website=Middle East Monitor |date=November 9, 2020}}</ref>

==Living conditions==
Begum, a specialist who studies Saudi Arabia, documented accounts of South Asian women sleeping on floors of storage rooms when they went to the Middle East.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Oppenheim |first1=Maya |title=More than 100 Bangladeshi migrant women 'abused and harassed' return home from Saudi Arabia |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/saudi-arabia-bangladesh-women-migrants-abuse-sexual-harrasment-brac-a9080701.html |website=The Independent |date=August 27, 2019}}</ref>

==Sexual abuse of workers==
Many female Bangladeshi workers in the Middle East become pregnant after being sexually abused by their employers.<ref name="dwcom">{{cite web |title=Bangladeshi domestic workers face physical and sexual abuse in Saudi Arabia |url=https://www.dw.com/en/bangladeshi-domestic-workers-face-physical-and-sexual-abuse-in-saudi-arabia/a-45401227 |website=DW.COM |date=September 7, 2018}}</ref> More than 100 Bangladeshi female labourers were living in shelters in Saudi Arabia and said that they suffered all kinds of abuse there, including sexual exploitation.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Oppenheim |first1=Maya |title=More than 100 Bangladeshi migrant women 'abused and harassed' return home from Saudi Arabia |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/saudi-arabia-bangladesh-women-migrants-abuse-sexual-harrasment-brac-a9080701.html |website=The Independent |date=August 27, 2019}}</ref>

The Sharjah Sharia Court of First Instance sentenced an Egyptian man for raping an Indian housewife in the UAE. He was sentenced for ten years to jail.<ref>{{cite web |title=Egyptian jailed for raping Indian housewife in UAE |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/egyptian-jailed-for-raping-indian-housewife-in-uae/story-aWSeOPnTDV7bsvNHBQaizO.html |website=Hindustan Times |date=July 12, 2010}}</ref>

Pakistani consultant Muhammad Saad was arrested by the police in the [[United Arab Emirates]] and taken to the [[Abu Dhabi]] city where he was forced to perform sexual acts and was then raped. His clothes were torn off. When he came back home to Pakistan, he was diagnosed with [[Post-traumatic stress disorder]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Daur |first1=Naya |title=Tragic Story Of A Pakistani Who Faced Detention, Torture, Sexual Abuse In UAE |url=https://nayadaur.tv/2019/08/tragic-story-of-a-pakistani-who-faced-detention-torture-sexual-abuse-in-uae/ |website=Naya Daur |date=August 26, 2019}}</ref>

Begum has recorded cases where Middle Eastern men have barged into the rooms of migrant workers where they were staying and raped them.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Oppenheim |first1=Maya |title=More than 100 Bangladeshi migrant women 'abused and harassed' return home from Saudi Arabia |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/saudi-arabia-bangladesh-women-migrants-abuse-sexual-harrasment-brac-a9080701.html |website=The Independent |date=August 27, 2019}}</ref>

In 2017, a female Pakistani minor was raped while shopping for groceries in [[Ta'if]]. She was found in an unconscious state.<ref name="thenewspk"/>

Migrant women in Saudi Arabia are frequently charged with the crime of khilwa for mingling with people of the opposite sex.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Oppenheim |first1=Maya |title=More than 100 Bangladeshi migrant women 'abused and harassed' return home from Saudi Arabia |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/saudi-arabia-bangladesh-women-migrants-abuse-sexual-harrasment-brac-a9080701.html |website=The Independent |date=August 27, 2019}}</ref>

==Visa issues==
On November 18 in 2020, the UAE banned visas for Pakistani nationals.<ref name="lowyinstitute">{{cite web |last1=Aamir |first1=Adnan |title=A dilemma for Pakistan as UAE cuts off work visas |url=https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/dilemma-pakistan-uae-cuts-work-visas |website=www.lowyinstitute.org}}</ref>

In 2012, the UAE stopped issuing visas for Bangladeshi nationals citing fake documents.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Al Jandaly |first1=Bassma |title=No new UAE visas for Bangladeshis |url=https://gulfnews.com/uae/no-new-uae-visas-for-bangladeshis-1.1084751 |website=gulfnews.com |date=October 3, 2012}}</ref>

In April of 2014, Kuwait renewed its visa ban on all Pakistanis.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Husain |first1=Waris |title=Kuwait's illogical ban on Pakistanis |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/691426/kuwaits-illogical-ban-on-pakistanis |website=The Express Tribune |date=April 4, 2014}}</ref>

90% - 95% of the time, passports of South Asian labourers are confiscated by their employers or sponsors.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Oppenheim |first1=Maya |title=More than 100 Bangladeshi migrant women 'abused and harassed' return home from Saudi Arabia |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/saudi-arabia-bangladesh-women-migrants-abuse-sexual-harrasment-brac-a9080701.html |website=The Independent |date=August 27, 2019}}</ref>

==Harassment==
Pakistanis travelling in the Middle East have faced harassment from Qatari passengers on the aeroplane. In July 2016 Pakistani traveller Kehkashan Khalid's husband was assaulted on an aeroplane by Qataris for just reclining his seat so that the baby could sleep.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pakistani family faces harassment by passengers on Qatar Airways |url=https://archive.pakistantoday.com.pk/2016/07/03/pakistani-family-faces-harassment-by-passengers-on-qatar-airways/ |website=archive.pakistantoday.com.pk |date=July 3, 2016}}</ref>

Employers have told female South Asians that they have bought them and so they can do whatever they would like to them.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Oppenheim |first1=Maya |title=More than 100 Bangladeshi migrant women 'abused and harassed' return home from Saudi Arabia |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/saudi-arabia-bangladesh-women-migrants-abuse-sexual-harrasment-brac-a9080701.html |website=The Independent |date=August 27, 2019}}</ref>

A 31 year old Pakistani lady was commanded by her employer to make him breakfast on the weekends and when she said she didn't want to he threatened to fire her and deport her back to Pakistan, her salary was cut when she refused and her boss even called her family in Pakistan to report her to them. Another colleague kept on calling her in the middle of the night when she didn't accept his proposal.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Al Amir |first1=Salam |title=Boss harassed female employee and called her inappropriate names, Dubai court hears |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/boss-harassed-female-employee-and-called-her-inappropriate-names-dubai-court-hears-1.343416 |website=The National |date=March 16, 2014}}</ref>

==Racism==
Pakistani driver Bashir Ahmed from [[Peshawar]] said that Saudi Arabians call him and his friends "Bengali, Hindi or Pakistani" as if these were abusive terms, not nationalities.<ref>{{cite web |title=Asian expats concerned at 'pervasive racism' |url=https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2014/06/04/Asian-expats-concerned-at-pervasive-racism- |website=Al Arabiya English |date=June 4, 2014}}</ref>
The Saudi Arabian government has banned its nationals from marrying Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Burmese people living in the kingdom. The Pakistani newspaper Dawn responded by accusing the kingdom of racism.<ref>{{cite web |title=Saudi Arabia: Men banned from marrying some expat women |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-28674836 |website=BBC News |date=August 6, 2014}}</ref>

==Issues with kafala system==
[[Image:Dubai workers angsana burj.jpg|thumb|Migrant workers on top floor of the [[Angsana Hotel & Suites|Angsana Tower]]]]

The [[kafala system]] is a major issue for South Asian labourers in the [[Arab States of the Persian Gulf|Persian Gulf region]]. The most common practice is the taking away of their passport. Further disenfranchisement is used through the lack of proper housing, occasional verbal abuse, and garnishment of wages. Female domestic workers also face physical and sexual abuse who are mainly from Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.<ref name="thenewspk">{{cite web |title=Pakistani minor girl raped in Saudi Arabia, culprit held |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/225443-Pakistani-minor-girl-raped-in-Saudi-Arabia-culprit-held |website=www.thenews.com.pk |date=August 23, 2017}}</ref><ref name="arabnews">{{Cite web |date=June 15, 2017 |title= Female domestic workers regularly abused in Qatar|url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/1751651/middle-east}}</ref><ref name="gandhara"/> It is said that the kafala system gives unchecked powers to Middle Eastern employers over subcontinental workers.<ref>{{cite web |title="How Can We Work Without Wages?" |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/08/24/how-can-we-work-without-wages/salary-abuses-facing-migrant-workers-ahead-qatars |website=Human Rights Watch |date=August 24, 2020}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Migrant workers in the Gulf Cooperation Council region]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Pakistani diaspora in the United Arab Emirates| ]]
[[Category:Indian diaspora in the United Arab Emirates| ]]

Bharatpedia - User contributions [en]

Treatment of South Asian labourers in the Gulf Cooperation Council region