Indian Workers in The Gulf File 1 Labour Complaint a Day, On Average
Contents News/Article Date: 20th September 2023
Relating to which Act: Islamic Law – zohoIn some Emirates, particularly Abu Dhabi, however, Sharia law came to apply to all types of civil and commercial disputes, capital criminal offences and matters of personal status. Each of the seven federal Emirates maintains a parallel system of Sharia Courts proper to it.
According to the United Nations, Kuwait’s legal system is a mix of English common law, French civil law, Egyptian civil law and Islamic law. The court system in Kuwait is secular. Unlike other Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Kuwait does not have Sharia courts. Sections of the civil court system administer family law.
Since Saudi Arabia is an Islamic state, its judicial system is based on Islamic law (Shari’ah) for both criminal and civil cases.
In practice, Qatar’s legal system is a mixture of civil law and Islamic law. Flogging is used in Qatar as a punishment for alcohol consumption or illicit sexual relations. Article 88 of Qatar’s criminal code declares the punishment for adultery is 100 lashes.
Penalty under the Act: Saudi Safety standards: Fines linked to non-compliance in protection, safety, and occupational health have been revised. Specifically, Category A establishments will face fines reduced from 10,000 to 5,000 riyals; Category B from 5,000 to 2,500 and Category C from 2,500 to 1,500.
Fine ranges are: AED 20,000-100,000 for providing false information to recruit an expatriate employee; AED 50,000-200,000 for illegally employing an individual or recruiting an employee without having work to provide; and. AED 5,000-1,000,000 for any violation of the UAE Labour Law.
Applicable to which State: Gulf Region
Type: India Spend News Report
Pertains to: Employers and Employees in the Gulf Region
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And in the current instance: Kuwait topped the list with 23,020 complaints, followed by Saudi Arabia with 9,346 complaints. Oman is in third place with 7,666 complaints, the UAE is in fourth place with 3,652 complaints, Bahrain is fifth with 2,702 complaints, and Qatar is sixth with 1,709 complaints.
The Indian embassy in Kuwait lists non-payment of wages, unfair working conditions (including lack of proper food) and harassment as the most common complaints from Indian migrant workers. The Saudi Indian embassy lists salary issues, exit issues, and renewal of work permits.
The Omani Indian embassy says that salary issues and repatriation are the major problems faced by Indian migrant workers there. The UAE Indian embassy lists wage issues, repatriation, and retention of passports.
The Bahraini Indian embassy cites wage issues, repatriation, and violation of local labour laws as the most common complaints.
The Qatari Indian embassy also cites wage issues, passport retention, and visa issues as the most common complaints.
Subject: Indian Workers in The Gulf File 1 Labour Complaint a Day, On Average
Appended is the complete news item
Indian Workers in The Gulf File 1 Labour Complaint a Day, On Average
From 2019 till June 30, 2023, the Indian embassies in Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, together received 48,095 labour complaints from Indian migrant workers. All reported issues indicate signs of forced labour as defined by the ILO
The problem of modern slavery
In addition to abusive and fraudulent recruitment practices and the high costs associated with labour migration in the countries of origin, workers who migrate to the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain) face labour and workers’ rights violations as they follow an exploitative employer-employee labour contract system called Kafala, which has resemblances to modern-day slavery.
In these countries of destination, especially in the Gulf, migrant workers face poor working conditions and substantial occupational safety and health deficits, combined with weak labour inspection in migrant-intensive sectors such as construction and domestic work.
The non-inclusion or partial inclusion of certain categories of migrant workers, such as domestic workers, in labour laws is also a problem. While salary is ensured through bank transfer, freedom of movement and other rights limiting work to eight hours and access to health are often compromised.
Limited access to justice, weak and inefficient dispute settlement mechanisms, and the absence of compensation schemes also have a negative impact on migrant workers. Additionally, in some countries, migrant workers have limited or no freedom of association and are unable to bargain collectively.
According to the United Nations Department of Economics and Statistics (UN DESA), as of July 2023, there are 281 million migrants all over the world, which is 3.6% of the world population.
The International Labour Organization global estimates of international migrant workers reveal that the number of migrant workers in 12 Arab States amounts to 24.1 million in 2019, representing 14% of all migrant workers worldwide. The 12 Arab States are the six GCC countries plus Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Syrian Arab Republic, and Yemen.
The region has the highest global share of migrant workers as a proportion of the total workforce, reaching 41.4% in 2019 compared to the global average of just 5%. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, there are 13 million Non-Resident Indians (migrant workers and migrant entrepreneurs) all over the world, of which nearly nine million are in the GCC.
Archaic laws
Despite being the largest migrant-sending and remittance-receiving country, India governs migration with a 40-year-old Emigration Act which leaves the migrant worker at risk. In 2019, there was an attempt to update the Act, but it failed to get Parliament’s approval. Two years later, a fresh version came in the form of the Emigration Bill 2021.
Suggestions were sought from the public and civil society organisations, but not much has been heard about it since then. During the Parliament session in March 2023, the Ministry of External Affairs acknowledged the need for an updated Emigration Act to handle migration-related issues. But it stated that the ministry was still in the process of creating a preliminary version of the Emigration Bill after consulting with all concerned parties.
Kuwait the worst offender
The MEA’s replies to a series of Right to Information (RTI) queries reveal that Indian migrant workers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are in a difficult situation, facing various labour and human rights violations.
Since 2019, till June 30, 2023, the Indian embassies in Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia together received 48,095 labour complaints from the Indian migrant workers.
Kuwait topped the list with 23,020 complaints, followed by Saudi Arabia with 9,346 complaints. Oman is in third place with 7,666 complaints, the UAE is in fourth place with 3,652 complaints, Bahrain is fifth with 2,702 complaints, and Qatar is sixth with 1,709 complaints.
The Indian embassy in Kuwait lists non-payment of wages, unfair working conditions (including lack of proper food) and harassment as the most common complaints from Indian migrant workers. The Saudi Indian embassy lists salary issues, exit issues, and renewal of work permits. The Omani Indian embassy says that salary issues and repatriation are the major problems faced by Indian migrant workers there. The UAE Indian embassy lists wage issues, repatriation, and retention of passports. The Bahraini Indian embassy cites wage issues, repatriation, and violation of local labour laws as the most common complaints. The Qatari Indian embassy also cites wage issues, passport retention, and visa issues as the most common complaints.