7/29/2020
The South Asian-Gulf migrant crisis - The Hindu
COMMENT
The South Asian-Gulf migrant crisis
S. Irudaya Rajan
Ginu Zacharia Oommen
JULY 29, 2020 00:15 IST
UPDATED: JULY 29, 2020 02:00 IST
The South Asian labour force forms the backbone of the Gulf economies, but has no
social security protection or labour rights
In early July, the Kerala High Court issued notice to the Central and State governments on a
petition seeking to set up a mechanism to assist NRIs who had lost their jobs abroad and
had returned to India, to seek due compensation. The petition was initiated by Lawyers
Beyond Borders, an international network of legal experts. It seeks the court’s intervention
to reclaim unpaid salaries, residual arrears, retirement benefits, and even compensation for
relatives of migrant workers, who had died since the outbreak of COVID-19. The exposes
the precarious conditions of migrant workers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
countries. Employers, particularly construction companies, have used the crisis as an
opportunity to retrench masses of migrant labourers without paying them wages or
allowances.
Living in misery
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-south-asian-gulf-migrant-crisis/article32215146.ece
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