The controversy surrounding cheap migrant labor in the oil-rich Gulf states has intensified during the coronavirus pandemic, amid reports of workers going without food and water and being deprived of pay.
"A massive issue not being discussed is that some of the are going home without their paid wages," Rothna Begum, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch told CNBC on Thursday. "This is thousands of dollars of wages that are not being paid because unscrupulous employers and agents realize this is an opportunity to allow workers to go home without having to pay them."
Rights advocacy group Amnesty International said that the coronavirus pandemic had worsened conditions for many of these workers. The group cites salary delays and layoffs as a major risk plaguing the community right now, in addition to overcrowded living conditions, a lack of support, detentions and deportations, and problems with healthcare and sick pay.
The UAE's Ministry of Human Resources did not reply to a request for comment. There is no region-wide body that oversees migrant labor.Governments need to create mechanisms to ensure that workers are paid before they return to their home countries, Human Rights Watch's Begum said. So far, none of the GCC states have implemented this.
"They're still finding themselves destitute, they still need access to food, housing and health in particular, a lot of them are not coming forward because they're scared of authorities catching them as undocumented workers," Begum added.
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