Misery in the desert

Things are looking grimmer and grimmer for the thousands of Pakistani workers, as well as those from some other developing nations, stranded in Saudi Arabia with salaries and end of service payments withheld from them by giant companies that have suffered as a result of the recent crash in crude oil prices. The Pakistan government it seems has made too little an effort to rescue these workers who fight on alone, with little help from their own country. At the Qadisiya Labour Camp, where thousands of workers laid off by the Saudi wing of the giant Lebanese-owned Oger Construction Company swelter in the heat, trying to survive on scarce food and water rations and using tiny cots shared between several workers as the only place available to sleep. Despair exists everywhere. Pakistani workers owed up to $3,000 by the company have rejected an offer by the Saudi government for their return home with travel documents. These documents are routinely held by employers for migrant workers in Saudi Arabia – a country whose labour regulations have come under critical scrutiny many times before. According to some reports, the Saudi government has said it will take action against the companies involved in this scandal. This is something we have been hearing for some time now.

But at this present moment, we need to examine the actions of the Pakistan government. The minister for overseas Pakistanis, who was scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia a short time back, eventually did not do so. After protests from the 8,000 or so Pakistani workers laid off suddenly in Saudi Arabia, the grant announced for their families by the Pakistan government was raised to Rs50,000 per family from an initial sum of just over half that amount. But workers say they are simply unable to give up the thousands of riyals owed to them. For some, doing so would mean returning to a situation where there is simply no income for their families and children are already out of school. The Indian government has also made demands on behalf of its workers, seeking Saudi intervention in the matter. The Saudi labour ministry has now said that companies like Oger and Bin Laden will make payments to their employees. When this will happen we still do not know. Given past experience, it is imperative that Islamabad put in a greater effort and use its ties with Riyadh to demand more be done for the thousands of people stranded in that country. This is a travesty given that Saudi Arabia is among the world’s very richest countries. The workers in Saudi Arabia have contributed, in the past, to its economic growth. The sudden collapse that comes now is not caused by them. The priority must be to end their suffering as quickly as possible and the Pakistan government must step up its pressure on Riyadh to create a situation where the huge amounts owed are paid up and the workers permitted to choose whether to seek new employment in Saudi Arabia or return home.