The Abuse and Exploitation of Migrant Workers in Gulf Countries

[Debater Slayer]

When people speak of racism, xenophobia, and abuse of immigrants and migrant workers, nowadays many will default to recalling the names of Western politicians such as Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen. However, a significant portion of abuse of migrant workers including many Arab ones occurs in the very heart of the Arab world itself:

The six countries that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar – host the majority of the estimated 23 million migrant workers living in the Arab states.

These are some of the richest countries in the world. Sadly, they have also become notorious for the systematic abuse and exploitation of the migrant workers who contribute so much to their economies. Unpaid wages, forced labour, dangerous working conditions and unsanitary accommodation facilities are too often part and parcel of the migration experience.

All GCC states operate versions of the ‘kafala’ sponsorship system, which ties the workers’ legal right to be in the country to their contracts. This means people risk being imprisoned or deported if they leave their jobs without the permission of their employers. In Saudi Arabia migrant workers cannot even leave the country without such permission.

The spread of COVID-19 has put migrant workers at even greater risk. Along with other organisations, Amnesty International has already raised its concerns about the impact of the pandemic on protection of migrant workers in the Gulf, where common issues like overcrowded accommodation now present a public health risk.

Perhaps mainstream Arab media need to direct more focus toward their own countries' faults and abuse instead of harping on the age-old scapegoat of the White Western Man. At a certain point, lack of sufficient introspection can lead countries to become what they most rail against--as in this case.

 

[Yerda]

When people speak of racism, xenophobia, and abuse of immigrants and migrant workers, nowadays many will default to recalling the names of Western politicians such as Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen. However, a significant portion of abuse of migrant workers including many Arab ones occurs in the very heart of the Arab world itself:



Perhaps mainstream Arab media need to direct more focus toward their own countries' faults and abuse instead of harping on the age-old scapegoat of the White Western Man. At a certain point, lack of sufficient introspection can lead countries to become what they most rail against--as in this case.

I remember seeing a dispatch about the condition of migrant construction workers in Qatar. It was bonded slavery.

 

[alsome]

And the tone of the color is shifting, to the best I hope.

 

[Tambourine]

Yea, that's been going on for a while.
Unsurprisingly, Western media doesn't really care very much about the plight of rightless laborers in third world countries.

 

[Revoltingest]

I remember seeing a dispatch about the condition of migrant construction workers in Qatar. It was bonded slavery.

Aye, such stories are common in western news media.
And not just Qatar.

 

[Vinayaka]

Today's version of slavery ... Foreign workers in Saudi Arabia - Wikipedia

When we landed in Delhi a few years back, I felt it, as way more than half the travelers were men returning home. The NRI lines and area were far larger than the lines we stood in as visitors.

 

[Tambourine]

I think I've found the root cause of the problem:

Trade unions, strikes, and collective bargaining are banned for both Saudi citizens and foreigners alike.

 

[Khudayar]

You are quite right. The "elite" and "royals" of the Gulf Regimes treat migrants really bad.

But we need to see the bigger picture. Isn't it quite interesting that those very gulf kings and sheikhs are supported by the American, British regimes and allies as long as the kings, sheikhs pay Trump and alike to protect their thrones. As Trump said, these sheikhdoms won't survive two weeks without their support.

American regime supported the uprising and armed it because Assad -however- opressor, is not their servant. But American regime did nothing when Saudis and Bahrainis revolted against their regimes. Simply because the ruling families, monarchs there are their servants. They carried out a strict crackdown against the uprisings. No one bat an eye. They beheaded the leaders of the opposition, or stripped them of their citizenships. They even butchered writers in the embassies. But still they are supported and protected against uprisings.

I am not saying the American regime should invade another country. I am just saying that it should stop its support for their favourite servant kings, families. And they should stop trying to overthrow the democratically elected governments or monarchies. And people will know what to do. They can decide their own fate.

I believe in one thing. you might call it a conspiracy theory.

But it is one percent of the American nation and one percent of the Arabs as well that is the root cause of this situation. But somehow, with the corporate media at their hands and with the fake threats and enemies they create for their own people; they place fear in the hearts of their own nations, use nationalism cards so that they can keep their thrones.

It is sad indeed. While the poor suffers in the Gulf Regimes such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and etc. They can keep their thrones. And because there is not a single sanction against them (whereas there is crippling sanctions against Iran and Syria), they can sell the only thing they have; oil. And with that money; they can pay the Africans to serve in their armies and protect them from uprising. And again they pay Africans to fight for them in Yemen. And they pay South Asians (Indians, Pakistanis, Malaysians, Indeonesians.. etc.) to work for and serve them in their palaces, villas. They can rape and kill anyone. Who cares? Right. As long as they pay Trump well.

It is indeed sickening. The way migrants are treated all over the world. But we need to see the root cause of this. Some regimes who suppose they are the cops of the world, should not meddle in the Middle East. They should not do everything to protect their favorite monarchies. they should not do everything to create uprisings and civil wars in the countries that are not their servants. So that no one becomes homeless, migrants again. And that no one should leave their countries to work for and get some salaries from a fat *** gulf sheikh or a white supremacist in the west.