As the novel coronavirus pandemic cripples global economic activity , the closure of businesses in the Persian Gulf region has hit low-income migrant workers particularly hard. While the Saudi and Bahraini governments have promised to cover any shortfalls in their own nationals’ wages, most foreign workers, who make up 95% of the workforce in some Gulf countries, have been left out. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has changed its law to allow companies to break the work contracts of non-nationals, restructure contracts to lower salaries and pressure workers to take unpaid leave. The majority of foreign workers in the Persian Gulf region come from southern Asian nations, including Nepal, India and Pakistan. “The situation is very bad. Many of my friends and people in my company have lost their jobs,” said Tanveer Abbas, an electrician from Pakistan who is on temporary unpaid leave from his job at a construction company in the UAE. Abbas’ boss has told him to simply wait, but in the meantime, his family in Pakistan, who rely on money he sends home, “can’t afford anything,” he said. Last week, the World Bank said global shutdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic are causing the sharpest decline in… Read full this story
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