ASIA PACIFIC
South Asian migrants seek justice as wage theft worsens in pandemic
BY ANURADHA NAGARAJ, NAIMUL KARIM AND BAN BARKAWI
Sep 10, 2020
THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION
CHENNAI/DHAKA/AMMAN – Nizar
Kochery has been fighting for migrant workers’ rights in the courts for decades,
but he has never felt so overwhelmed.
As the coronavirus pandemic forced tens of thousands of South Asian migrants to leave the Gulf countries
where they worked, the Doha-based lawyer was flooded with calls about unpaid wages and job losses.
“Nonpayment of wages or benefits has always plagued migrant workers in Gulf countries,” said Kochery,
who specializes in labor law and advises many embassies in Qatar.
“But during COVID, the impact is being felt 100 times more. People left in fear, in a hurry, and most did not
have time to collect pending wages or benefits as they boarded special flights to return home. Now they are
counting their losses.”
South Asians have for years traveled to wealthier Gulf countries for employment, mostly as domestic workers
or in the construction and hospitality sectors.
One migrant worker often supports many relatives and can earn far more than they would make in the same
job at home.
But their migrant status makes it much harder for them to seek justice when things go wrong — as they have
for large numbers in recent months as the pandemic has closed borders and devastated economies.
Even before the pandemic, unions and lawyers like Kochery say, the system for dealing with such cases was
lacking.
Now, they say, there is a desperate need for an overhaul to cope with the challenges that come with the largescale return of migrants.
The number of wage theft cases reported from Gulf countries rose more than three-fold between April and
July compared with the same period last year, says the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, which
advocates for human rights in business.
Money matters
Bhoomaiah Motapalkula, 38, who worked as an office messenger, had not been paid his full salary since April
2019 when he had to return to India.
Now home, he is talking to lawyers about getting the 25,000 United Arab Emirates dirhams ($6,800) he says his
employer in Dubai owes him.
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