Low-paid foreign workers make up 90% of the Emirates’ workforce, with some not paid in months, and not sign of payment in the future
An empty Dubai International Airport during Covid-19. Picture: REUTERS/AHMED JADALLAH
Some said they find little reason to stay without work and want to return to their home countries despite being owed months of wages; hundreds of thousands have already left. A laundry service worker from Cameroon said he had not been paid in months and is now selling fruit and vegetables on the street earning 30 to 40 dirhams a day .
Kapil, who said he paid a recruiter 175,000 Nepali rupees for his UAE job, is not sure when he will work again. His employer told staff they would only be paid when they worked and it is unclear whether there will be any work next month. Arriving in the UAE last October, Kapil thought he would work at the airport for a few years before finding a better job, possibly using his teaching skills. Now he just hopes to work until the end of the year to pay back his loans.
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