Blue collar workers from Asia and Africa found themselves without work or any money due to lockdown rules in Dubai, which is witnessing a rise in homelessness, as migrant workers who lost their jobs due to the economic depression caused by the Corona pandemic were forced to sleep in parks under skyscrapers, and that After running out of their money to return home.

In a report published by the British newspaper "Telegraph", writer Ashley Stewart said that, given that they are unemployed, and with the expiration of their visas;

Many of them gathered in the gardens of the impoverished Satwa district of Dubai, asking for their help to return home.

The manifestations of homelessness and poverty are usually absent in the brightest city of the United Arab Emirates, but in light of this crisis even the jobs of white-collar workers have also been affected in the Emirates, where many expatriates from the United Kingdom have left for their homeland since the beginning of the pandemic.

According to the Oxford Economics Foundation, the current situation threatens nearly 900,000 jobs in a country with a population of less than 10 million.

In fact, migrant blue-collar workers from poor countries are paid low wages, work long hours, and often live in cramped dormitories that are hotbeds of the Coronavirus.

Many of them pay recruitment agencies fees in their home countries, which is a common practice in low-paying jobs in the Gulf, like many immigrants.

Sri Lankan Susil Kumara - who was an "office worker" for a company in Dubai for 5 years - lost his job last July, and with the expiration of his residency visa expiring, Kumar joined others at the park in the Satwa area two weeks ago.

Many workers pay fees to recruitment agencies in their homeland to be able to work in the Gulf countries (Reuters)

Without work or shelter

The same goes for graphic designer Bodhima Igala, who traveled to Dubai to find work on a 3-month tourist visa and renewed it twice before he ran out of money, but now he's sleeping on a dirty mattress in the garden with two other men 8 days ago.

Nearby, Jamila Abdel Salam says - crying - that she has been in the garden for about two weeks, after losing her job as a housemaid.

While the UAE offered an amnesty for the huge fines imposed for overstaying the stay, many are still unable to bear the costs of airline tickets or exit fees, and since embassies and authorities took a long time to deal with the situation, private donors were responsible for paying airline tickets. Others were transferred by Dubai Police to temporary accommodation camps.

The Dubai Government Media Office did not respond to questions related to the problem of homelessness, but indicated that they “provide intensive assistance” to unemployed workers, and that the Dubai Police are helping to provide emergency shelters. More than 480,000 Indians, 60,000 Pakistanis and 40,000 were deported. Filipinos have been to their home country since the outbreak began, according to their consulates.

There are no reliable estimates on the number of unemployed migrant workers, but the Philippine Consulate in Dubai says that about 30,000 Filipinos have lost their jobs, but many of them remain in the UAE on the basis of "no work, no pay" with employers.

According to the Consul General of Sri Lanka in Dubai, Nalinda Wiiratna, 9,000 people have been repatriated, while about 6,000 others are still waiting for their turn, and the limited capacity in quarantine centers in Colombo has delayed the return trips.

Last August, Anthony Ewise was among 35 Nigerians sleeping in Satwa Park, which is full of garbage, after the company he works for failed to pay his salary for 3 months, and this forced him to join a group of Nigerians who sleep outside their consulate, before he The police take them to the park, and he said they have suffered enough and they just want to go home.

Blue-collar workers work long hours and often live in cramped dormitories that are hotbeds of the Corona virus (Reuters)

help

Among the volunteers who intervened to help is Mahnaz Fakih, who has been involved in coordinating flights for migrant workers who have been displaced for 6 months. This Indian woman relies on her friends and acquaintances to find donors, and has bought about 20 tickets herself.

In fact, the UAE has strict laws on fundraising, which means that flights must be paid by only one donor.

Mahnaz Fakih - who owns a chain of medical clinics - says she helped about 700 people return home, including a group of 13 pregnant women from Sri Lanka and Ghana.

Other volunteers were asked to stop providing food to prevent further homeless migrants who were stranded on the streets.

One of the volunteers, who organizes food campaigns across the city, says that most of the migrants "have not worked for months and bear a lot of responsibilities, in addition to their lack of money to be able to provide housing, while they live on one meal a day."

"We used to provide food for a few weeks to a camp of 200 people in Sharjah. Their employer has been imprisoned since last August, and the sad part is that most of these people have not been paid for months, and the only thing they ask for is to go home."

This volunteer stressed the need for the government to do more to protect workers, saying that most of the country's embassies' procedures are very slow or lack resources, and NGOs cannot cover all needs.