The Guardian on May 7 reported that low wage migrant workers in Qatar have been forced to beg for food amidst the threat of a pandemic. Most of them have become unemployed and have no means of sustenance. As a result, they are being pushed to beg for food and charity from their employers.
A worker from India had told the newspaper that the company in which he works for had informed him that they won’t pay for the month of April and that only money for food would be given. He added that they weren’t getting that too. “They gave us a tray of eggs and some oil a few days ago. That was all”, he had said.
Another worker from Bangladesh who had lost his job in March said that “I don’t have much food left. Just some rice and lentils. It will last only a few days. What happens when this food finishes?”
A worker from Philippines mentioned that her boss was not even giving her food.
The situation across Gulf countries is the same. Countries like Saudi Arabia are also struggling to contain the pandemic among the migrant population and have left the workers in limbo.
Qatar has one of the highest rates of per capita infection in the world and over 25% of those tested have been found to be infected in the past week, the vast majority of which were migrant workers.