Six GCC Countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and UAE) have reported the death of more than 33 thousand Indian workers since 2016. Among these countries, the highest number of casualty has been reported in Saudi Arabia, with 14229 workers. United Arab Emirates (UAE) has declared the death of 9769, followed by Kuwait (3812), Oman (2683), Qatar (1237), and Bahrain (1237). The government of India provided the information in response to Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3436 regarding the condition of migrant workers submitted by N. Bhaskar Rao, Member of Parliament, India. Out of three questions, the first one specifically looked into the number of reported deaths of Indian migrant workers in Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE since 2016. The second question was about the number of complaints received from Indian migrant workers in these countries regarding poor working conditions and mistreatment.The third question looked into the initiatives and actions taken along with the status of these complaints. The fourth question was to know about any measure being considered or implemented to ensure decent working conditions for Indian migrant workers in these countries.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, six GCC countries host nearly nine million Indian workers. Among these countries UAE host 3.4 million Indian workers. Almost 2.5 million Indians live in Saudi Arabia, followed by more than one million in Kuwait, nearlyseven hundred thousand each in Qatar and Oman and more than 300 thousand in Bahrain. Unfortunately, the working and living condition of these migrant workers have always been in question. There isa significant number of instances of labour abuse. Since 2016, India has registered more than ninety thousand complaints regarding mistreatment and poor working conditions from Indian workers staying in these six GCC countries. More than 30 percent of these cases (33712) have come from Saudi Arabia. Kuwait has reported the second-highest instances of labour abuse, with complaints from 21093 workers. This has further followed by Oman (13096), Qatar (10982), United Arab Emirates (10586) and Bahrain (763).
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, most of these complaints have been received from the Consular Services Management System (MADAD) portal. The portal looks into 23 different issues faced by Indians living abroad. These issues range from labour abuse and vulnerability to the everyday need of Indians living abroad. According to the portal, a total number of 70,844 grievances has been registered, and 63585 have been resolved. The number also includes 22218 grievances received from Indian students staying abroad.
Grievances related to Overseas Employment in notified Emigration Check Required (ECR) countries can also be lodged directly by emigrants/ relatives or through the PravasiBharatiyaSahayata Kendra (PBSK) on the e-Migrate portal. These grievances are settled by respective jurisdictional Protectors of Emigrants (PoEs) as per laid down procedures. Indian Missions / Consulates conduct Open Houses regularly to approach the officers, highlight their grievances and seek redressal. 24×7 Helplines and Toll-Free Helplines have been established for the benefit of Indian workers seeking help. The Missions utilize the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) to assist Indian nationals in times of distress. The guidelines of ICWF have been revised to expand the scope of welfare measures and to cover three key areas, namely, assisting overseas Indian nationals in distress situations, community welfare activities, and improvement in consular services. Labour and Manpower Cooperation MoUs / Agreements are in place with the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries that provide the institutional framework to discuss and review labor-related issues comprehensively. Following the Labour and Manpower Cooperation/ Agreement, Joint Working Group (JWG) meetings are held regularly to discuss various labor-related matters.
Dr Rakesh Ranjan is Advisory Board Member of TMN and currently serving as Assistant Professor at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India.