Originally posted to The Guardian website, 04 May 2020
Kuwait police break up riot by Egyptian workers after large numbers of jobs lost across the Gulf states.
India is to send its navy and a fleet of planes to repatriate migrant workers stranded by the coronavirus pandemic, as mounting tensions sparked a riot in Kuwait and alarm among large numbers of laid-off employees across the Gulf states.
The riot in a migrant camp in Kuwait on Sunday night was led by Egyptian workers, some of whom brandished furniture as security forces fired tear gas and sound grenades towards them.
The unrest cast new light on a crisis that has affected a large part of a regional labour force numbering close to 35 million, leaving many without salaries and no means to return home.
Economies in the Gulf states have ground to a halt since early March, leaving worksites vacant and migrant workers confined to camps, where the numbers of Covid-19 cases far outstrip those among citizens in regional countries, including Oman, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait.
After weeks of pressure from its nationals, India announced on Monday that it had launched a mass repatriation plan. However, the move drew immediate criticism because it expects all but those desperately in need of evacuation to pay for their journey and a mandatory two-week quarantine once they get home.
The plan suggests that up to 200,000 stranded Indians will be returned. Many hundreds of thousands more work across the region, along with Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, Nepalese, Bangladeshi Sudanese and Arab workers, including Egyptians, taking almost all unskilled roles in the gas and oil producing states, and also filling some skilled positions.
Across the Gulf, pressure has mounted on governments to act to remove migrant workers, who account for most of the reported coronavirus cases, and up to 80% of residents. Kuwait has seen rising xenophobia among some of its citizens and has offered amnesties to unregistered workers and a ticket home. It has also suspended jail time and fines for anyone who overstayed a work visa.
The Egyptian nationals caught up in the riot were demanding to leave the country. Egypt’s ambassador to Kuwait told the local news agency, Kuna, that repatriation flights had been scheduled for later this week.
While the region’s foreign workers had taken to social media to protest against their plight, the clashes were the first sign of unrest among huge workforces that have largely been stood down since the Covid-19 crisis began in early March.
Videos posted online showed several hundred men chanting at security forces and others making barricades inside what appeared to be dormitories. One video appeared to show Kuwaiti police firing teargas at the demonstrators, some of whom shouted: “Where is our embassy?”
“Security officials intervened and took control, arresting a number of them,” said Kuna.
The economic crunch caused by the pandemic has devastated construction sectors in all Gulf countries and raised questions about whether it will resume on a similar scale once an all-clear is eventually given. The use of mass migrant labour has raised frequent human rights concerns surrounding salaries and living conditions, as well as bonded labour, which ties a worker to an employee.
However, some improvements have been made in several states, the International Labour Organization says, and much of the work on offer does not exist in home countries, where salaries are markedly lower. Migrant labour is responsible for billions of dollars in annual remittances across South Asia and in Middle Eastern states, such as Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt, which are also vulnerable economically.
Meanwhile, the UAE government has placed increasing pressure on Pakistan and Bangladesh to repatriate its workers – something both countries have been reluctant to do, fearing the consequences of a public health emergency if returnees brought the virus with them.
“I could go home because I have saved the money,” said Aziz Shiraz, a Pakistani labourer in Sharjah, who has spent 11 years in the UAE. “But if I went I might not come back, and if I stayed there my family would starve. For me and others, the Corona is less of a risk.”
The Middle East has remained relatively lightly affected by the global pandemic, with tough lockdown measures being enforced across the region for the past eight weeks. In many states, restrictions are slowly being eased as cash-strapped governments balance public health needs against a withering economic slowdown.
Link to the original post : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/04/kuwait-police-break-up-riot-by-egyptian-workers-stranded-by-coronavirus
