By Alyxandra Stanczak
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates – Thirty-eight Bengali and Pakistani workers are currently stranded in the emirate of Sharjah after their Indian employers fled the country, leaving the workers without ten-months of back pay. The workers earn approximately $220 a month, and there is no sign that the employers have any intention of paying the workers. These workers are forced remain in the UAE without work visas as they generally do not have enough money to return to their respective homes.
In March, the workers took to the Emirati courts to attempt to seize their lost wages, but no progress was made on the issue. They have also registered their status as abandoned with the courts, resulting in an issuing of passports which would allow them to leave the country. It is customary for employers of migrant workers to retain the passports of their employees upon entering the UAE for work purposes.
This past week, the abandoned workers attempted to appeal to the Ministry of Labor. The Ministry stated that they cannot help these workers because of the legal action that they previously took against their employers. Saher Shaikh stated that “The authorities are extremely proactive and supportive in trying to help camps in this situation. [However], this particular camp … seems to be dragging on for a quite a while.”
These thirty-eight workers currently face eviction, and cannot afford food, water, and power – much less a flight home. They are surviving on handouts they receive off the streets.
Approximately 12 million foreign workers, primarily from Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and other South Asian countries, have come to the UAE and other Gulf countries where they earn higher wages than they can in their respective home countries. Mirgrant workers they do not have substantial legal protection in the UAE, and cannot form labor unions. Since the economy in the UAE has slowed, migrant workers, particularly in the emirates of Dubai, Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi, face abandonment as their employers liquidate their remaining assets and flee the country when ventures prove unprofitable.
A non-profit group, Adopt-A-Camp, has been set up by Saher Shaikh to provide assistance to Gulf workers in these situations.
For more information, please see:
Al Jazeera – Gulf laborers remain stranded – 5 August 2010
Change.org – Exploited workers stranded in Dubai – 3 August 2010
Migrant Workers – UAE: Thousands of laborers left to fend for themselves – 23 July 2010
Reuters – Migrant workers collateral damage of UAE slump – 20 July 2010
