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NGO details widespread labour abuses against migrant workers in Qatar, Saudi Arabia & UAE, criticises govtsâ COVID-19 response
In November 2020, rights group and NGO Equidem published a report,
The Cost of Contagion: The consequences of COVID-19 for migrant workers in the Gulf, highlighting the impact of the pandemic on workers in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Equidem interviewed 206 workers across the three countries, who described a range of labour abuses by companies including unpaid and delayed wages, inadequate and poor living conditions which made social distancing impossible, health and safety violations, physical and mental abuse, and inadequate or a lack of medical care. Many workers also reported widespread terminations by employers and that workers were forced by companies to accept new contracts or agree to conditions they could not understand. The patterns of abuse occurred regardless of the size or type of business, with workers in every sector