: The fire tragedy in Kuwait that claimed the lives of 49 people including 24 Keralites has brought into sharp focus yet again, the miserable living conditions of migrant workers in the Gulf countries. More than five million people are working in the gulf countries, and a majority are engaged in hard labour and low-paid jobs. Kerala Migration Survey 2016 put the number of migrant workers from Kerala at 2.
2 million (22 lakh), and 90 per cent of them in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries; countries Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. A large number of migrant workers come to GCC countries with two or three-year labour contracts. Most of them stay in pathetic living conditions in the cramped labour camps.
Lack of adequate sanitation, basic health facilities and drinking water make these labour camps a place with subhuman conditions. Thousands of complaints are received from Indian migrant labourers, the highest from Kuwait. These complaints pertain to non-payment of salaries, miserable working and staying conditions, lack of basic amenities including food and water, harassment, unfair treatment by employers and problems in getting bodies of migrant workers repatriated.
In many instances, the passports of workers are confiscated upon arrival, so they have to be at the mercy of the employers. Many organisations, from time to time, have called for regular checks and inspections in labour camps by Indian embassies and Indian Missions. There.