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Human Rights Watch Worried for Health and Safety of Migrants in Persian Gulf
Region

Dale Gavlak

   AMMAN - HumanRights Watch is expressing concern for the fate of
   millions of migrant workersin the Persian Gulf region,as host countries
   lockdown,andemployers withhold wages or consider layoffs amid strict
   coronavirus containment measures that are leading in some cases to
   deportations and confinement.

   Advocacy groupssuch asHuman Rights Watch and Amnesty International say
   they are worried for the health and safety of foreign migrants working
   in construction, the service sector and managerial positions in the
   oil-rich Gulf region.

   Those from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Nepal make up about
   10percentof all migrants worldwide, they say, and even before the
   COVID-19 outbreak,often facedappalling work and housing conditions.

   So far,Gulf countries includingSaudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates,
   Qatar, Bahrain and Oman have reported more that 3,300 coronavirus
   cases. Gulf migrant researcher HibaZayadinat Human Rights Watch tells
   VOA that cramped accommodations and inadequate sanitation facilities
   are endangering migrants in the Gulf region who may also lack access to
   healthcare.

   "Often,labor accommodation and immigration and detention centers are
   often overcrowded. They lack hygienic standards, poor ventilation, lack
   of access to adequate medical care. Food is not up to international
   standards. These are all things that can exacerbate the current
   situation and make the fear of the spread of the coronavirus more
   catastrophic. So, that's the main and most immediate concern that we
   are looking at,"Zayadin said.

   Zayadinsays Human Rights Watchisurging Gulf governments to find safe
   housing alternatives. Even under ordinary conditions, dismal migrant
   accommodations mightinvolvesixto 10 people sharing a room.

   Migrant workers in the Gulf, she says, are disadvantaged under a labor
   sponsorship system that gives employers excessive powers over migrant
   workers,which can foster abuse and exploitation.Zayadinfears that with
   the economic downturn due to COVID-19, migrants could be further
   exploited.

   "Generally, it's very difficult for people to get back wages that they
   are owedfor a variety of reasons--incompetence, companies going
   bankrupt, insurance funds not being operationalized. And this
   will...we'll see alot more,as financial hardships for migrant workers
   are going to face is huge. Layoffs,that is something we'redefinitely
   seeing. People just being kept in their accommodations under lockdown
   and not being paid, even though they are on fixed-term salaries. People
   who are being compelled to work,even though they feel they should be
   working,especiallywhen there are bans on gathering in many of these
   countries,"Zayadin said.

   Zayadinsays that some companies are taking measures to protect migrant
   workers. Also, some countries are helping to repatriate guest workers.

   ButZayadinsays that Nepali workers who might want to go home are unable
   to,as Nepal has shut its borders even to its nationals.

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