21/09/2020
Indian migrant workers in Gulf countries are returning home without months of salary owed to them - The Hindu
“I realised the wage theft only after they credited the amount into my bank account just two
days before I travelled out. So I didn’t have time to complain either to my office nor to the
Indian Embassy. I had to just give up that money and fly back,” says Haneesh.
Even if Haneesh indeed had enough time to approach the Indian Embassy in Oman, there is
little it could have done, with no process in place to help Indian migrants subjected to wage
theft.
All 1,400 employees who were dismissed from the company faced similar issues. If we
assume the lowest monthly salary to be $250, and calculate the unpaid amount for 10 days
as well as the denied food allowance for each of the 1,400 workers, Haneesh’s company
would have saved — or stolen — $369,000 from its workers.
This is not an isolated case: it is happening in several companies across the Gulf countries
during the pandemic.
R. George, an engineer with a petroleum company in the U.A.E., had to return after giving
up two months’ salary. “I had to return empty-handed. I was owed at least $2,500. I have a
pending bank loan here and I am clueless about what to do,” says George.
https://www.thehindu.com/society/indian-migrant-workers-in-gulf-countries-are-returning-home-without-months-of-salary-owed-to-them/article32…
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