Fear is Forever!

The shocking treatment of thousands of jobless migrant labourers in the Gulf is a sobering reminder that the global financial crisis should not only be viewed as a threat to remittance flows, but also to the basic human rights of South Asian workers

Sophia Furber Dubai, Hardnews

The construction boom in the Gulf States, responsible for creating tens of thousands of jobs for labourers from South Asia over the past six years, is now grinding to a halt. The combination of the credit crunch and plummeting oil prices have dealt a blow to the economies of the Gulf States, and the property market has been one of the most dramatic casualties. Even the most brash and ambitious real estate developers in the Emirates have been forced to admit that they are feeling the pinch, and have been forced to fire workers and scale down projects.

Indeed, around 50 per cent of all commercial and residential projects planned to come online between 2009 and 2012 in Dubai have now been cancelled or put on hold due to low demand and difficulty obtaining finance.

While the downturn bas brought about an embarrassing loss of face for the Gulf's real estate giants, it is the low-paid migrant labourers that they employ who are being hit hardest. South Asian countries are now bracing themselves for a fall in remittances from the Gulf States, and for the return of thousands of out-of-work construction labourers. Remittances by South Asians in the Gulf could decline by 9 per cent in 2009 due to the weakening market, compared with a 38 per cent increase in 2008, according to World Bank forecasts.

Several construction companies in the Emirates have already block-booked seats on planes to fly up to 30,000 unwanted workers home on indefinite leave or to other Gulf countries for redeployment, according to the Indian consulate in Dubai, and further job cuts are expected to follow. 

However, a fall in remittances is not the only cause for concern for the tens of thousands of South Asian labourers working in the region. Tougher economic times mean a real risk that construction companies will start to cut corners, scrimping on wages and accommodation for labourers, and failing to implement safety regulations.

While the price of building materials may be subject to increases, and financing more difficult to obtain in these post-credit crunch days, it appears that human life is the one thing that still comes cheap for construction companies.

Construction companies in the Gulf have a poor record on upholding workers' rights at the best of times. Bans on work on construction sites between the hours of 12 and 4 pm, when temperatures can soar to as high as 50 degrees Celsius in the summer, have regularly been ignored by contractors in the UAE and Bahrain, and labourers can often be seen working without hard hats or proper safety harnesses. In Bahrain, 37 workers were killed in accidents on construction sites last year, and just over two weeks into 2009 the first fatality of the year was confirmed.

Sitaram Muralidar, a 42-year old Indian national, was killed after being hit by a wooden plank that fell from the 20th floor of a building under construction. A subsequent report released by the Bahrain Labour Ministry reported that the construction firm that employed Muralidar had violated the law by failing to provide workers with proper safety equipment. Dubai, the epicentre of the Gulf construction boom, has perhaps the worst record in the region on workplace safety, with nearly 900 construction-related deaths recorded between 2004 and 2007.