Foreign labourers work at a construction site in Dubai on 28th May, 2008. PICTURE: Reuters/Jumana El Heloueh
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S Irudaya Rajan, a professor with the Centre for Development Studies, estimates up to one million South Asian migrant workers have
headed home since April and expects many more will do so in the coming months as job losses mount.
In 2017 the Gulf region was home to 23 million migrant workers, most of them Asians, according to the ILO.
A petition led in an Indian court by Lawyers Beyond Borders, a network of legal experts, said employers were taking advantage of
mass repatriation programs to repatriate workers who had not been paid their dues.
They sought legal remedy from the Indian government for all workers, asking for the claims and grievances of all repatriated Indian
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migrants to be documented.
India said there were existing mechanisms to help migrants, including online complaint portals and legal aid at embassies, and on
Monday the court asked workers to make use of these, calling for proper documentation and follow-up of complaints.
But Kochery believes individual workers cannot
ght alone. Instead, cases "have to be taken up
collectively because workers have just one year to
le these cases," he said, citing labour laws that give
In 2017 the Gulf region was home to 23 million
migrant workers, most of them Asians, according to
the ILO.
workers up to 12 months.
The Qatar Government said its Wage Protection System obliges employers to pay all outstanding dues to employees who have left
and are unable to return during the pandemic.
Workers who have left the country can submit and follow up complaints electronically on the labour ministry's website, it said in a
statement, adding the ministry had resolved 91 per cent of complaints lodged between March and August.
Companies that violate the Wage Protection System face penalties including one month imprisonment, up to QAR 6,000 ($US1,648)
in nes, and a ban on issuing new work permits.
Neither Oman nor the United Arab Emirates responded to requests for comment.
The Saudi Government said workers can log violations through its online dispute settlement platform or, if that fails, take their case
to a labour court.
But it said foreign workers who have left the country must assign a Saudi citizen or resident to follow up on the case on their behalf.
Other Gulf countries also require departed workers to assign power of attorney to a local resident, something unions and labour
rights lawyers say is expensive and leaves those unable to do so with no recourse to justice.
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Migrant labourers work at a construction site at Aspire Zone in Doha, Qatar, on 26th March 2016. PICTURE: Reuters/Naseem
Zeitoon /File photo.
Many labour rights campaigners see the current crisis as an opportunity to rework what they say is a system loaded against
migrants.
"For years we have been ghting for work contracts to include a clause that gives default power of attorney to embassies to le
complaints on the behalf of workers," Kochery said.
"Now is the time to set things right, use community welfare funds better and protect migrant workers who don't know how to access
grievance redressal mechanisms. Everyone needs to step up to the crisis because thousands of families depend on it."
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