The labour situation in Qatar isn’t as rosy as it seems from back home. There are loopholes within loopholes in the immigration rules/traditions and often the expatriate unskilled/semi-skilled labourer ends up being short changed.

Recently, the Indian Embassy was put in a position in which it was forced to feed 275 jobless, starving labourers from Bihar and UP. It has been six weeks since, and the Indian Embassy isn’t sure when this will end.

Dr George Joseph, the Indian Ambassador to Qatar, says this isn’t an isolated incident, though it is certainly one of the most high profile, because of the sheer number of labourers involved.

“The problem arose some six months back, when a Saudi construction company, Thinet, had its contract rescinded by the Qatar government when they failed on delivery schedule,” George told The Indian Express here. “As a result the company shut its Qatar operations and the workers, mostly unskilled and semi-skilled—who arrived here through different recruiting agencies—were left out in the cold.

Money started running out, with the labourers being forced to scrounge and sometimes even beg for basic amenities. The company fed them at their ‘camp’ for four months, but thereafter the labourers were on their own. “Six weeks back they arrived at the embassy gates, hungry and helpless. Trickles of help that was coming to them from their friends here had also dried up. So we were forced to provide them rations and medicines. We have intervened on their behalf with their employers, and talks are on, but progress has been slow,” said the Ambassador.

“The big problem wasn’t just the money,” said George. The bigger plight was in their resident status. With their sponsors (always citizens of Qatar, if the hiring company isn’t Qatari) not available, there was no way they could avail of their passports (which are held in custody) and hence neither could they renew their visas nor could they get the essential exit permit which enables a labourer/worker here to leave the country. Their very existence becomes worthless. One must remember, that without this exit permit, or a sort of release letter, you cannot switch firms too, in West Asia. Joseph says such instances are growing. “I think it is essential that the Indian government tackles this seriously and introduces quality control on the recruiting agencies. I have suggested that all such recruiting agencies be registered with the Indian government and the functioning of each be monitored on a regular basis. This will help weed out the crooked, and also provide a certain amount of security to the labourers.”

Like other Arab states, there are clearly two sets of employment possibilities in Qatar. The first, and most desirable are government organisations. People employed here are secure and well looked after. Such jobs, though, are hard to come by and give first preference to citizens. It’s in private employment that life could get worrisome. The image of India is essentially the image of the worker at the lowest level in a foreign country. If he or she is forced to scrounge and starves, it bodes ill for an emerging power like India.

According to estimates, the are about 1,60,000 semi-skilled labourers from India working here. Of them 30,000 are here as domestic help—maids, cooks, drivers, gardeners, agricultural labourers and even fishermen—and are fully insecure. They come here with a contract which talks about security of job, a fixed pay (no less than 900 Riyals for a maid, one Riyal being approximately equal to Rs 12), medical facilities and such. “But the law ends at the doorstep,” says George. “We have no way of assuring all this, because we can’t enter a private house, neither can the police, without elaborate paperwork.”

Hence, when an Indian maid “escaped” her employers and managed to come to us, we managed to intervene and get her a compensation. “The Shariyar court is responsible for most matters, and there is this system of blood money. This could be, in a way, fairer than regular courts, because the victim and family get compensation.” “Overall, though, there remains a lot more to be done. Till such time, we must at least ensure our workers don’t fall into the deep side,” George said.