Anish Kumar, an accountant in a nancial rm in Qatar, works for 30 days. But he
gets paid only for 15 days.
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“In March and April, my colleagues and I worked for 30 days. But we were paid only
for 15 days. Citing COVID-19 led market crisis, the company had put forward two
options. Either we have to quit or have to adjust for new terms. A few people left. But
a few like me agreed to work for slashed salary,” Anish said.
Anish’s case is not an isolated one. There are thousands of migrant workers in the
Arab Gulf, subjected to “wage theft” during COVID-19 who are forced to work for
new unwritten and unsigned “contracts” where salary, overtime, and other bene ts
are cut.
And if a worker is not ready to adjust to new “contracts”, then he is allowed to quit
without dues and end of service bene ts cleared. When the removed worker opts
for repatriation, he is not given either a platform or enough time to le a legal
remedy for his loss.
Talking to The Lede Shameer U, a migrant worker in Oman, said that he was getting
a salary from his company since the middle of 2019. But he had to give up his unpaid
wages and leave Oman through the repatriation process.
“I had some kidney issues. Since May 2019, the salary was not proper in my company.
By the end of 2019, it worsened. In between, my company’s inaction turned me into
an undocumented worker. In March, the COVID-19 outbreak happened. I was afraid
that I would die. I nally, somehow managed to get the help of social workers and
nd an exit from Oman,” Shameer told The Lede.
Shameer had to pay a ne for overstaying in Oman. But at the same time, he had to
give up his unpaid wages thinking that it was his fate. He did not have a platform to
le a case to get justice.
Repatriation of migrant workers, especially from the Arab Gulf, is happening hastily
so that workers do not get to claim their unpaid wages.
Countries of destination and origin have begun repatriation procedures of these
workers, without giving thought to their predicament and presenting their return as
inevitable.