DOHA: Migrant workers in Qatar have to compulsorily stay at the labor camp. The camp has been in lockdown after hundreds of construction workers became infected with Covid-19.
According to a Nepali worker, who lives inside the area under lockdown, said that they are barred from leaving it. He said that they are not allowed to walk in groups or eat in a tea shop, but, they can still buy food and take it home, The Guardian reported.
He added, ” I’m worried about my family back home. There won’t be anyone to take care of them in case anything happens to them.”
Another Nepali worker said, “The situation is really tense here.”
“I was immediately taken to the hospital after I reported flu-like symptoms, and discharged only after tests for the coronavirus came out negative”, another laborer said. ‘
He said that Qatar is doing everything in its capacity to stop the spread of the virus. Workers are also doing everything to support the government to contain the virus by obeying the rules and regulations as they are for our common good,” he added.
Sources inside the camp told The Guardian that some workers were being put on unpaid leave until further notice, with only food and accommodation covered.
The lockdown appears to have been enforced after the government announced 238 cases of the virus among “expatriate workers” on March 11. Additional 113 cases, most of which appear to be linked to that outbreak, were identified over the following five days.
There are around 2 million migrant workers in Qatar – mostly from south Asia and east Africa – who make up 95% of the working population. The number of migrants has increased rapidly in recent years as the country gears up to host the World Cup in 2022.
The Nepal government’s unprecedented decision on Wednesday to ban its citizens flying home from the Gulf and other countries badly hit by the virus has left millions of Nepali migrants stranded abroad.
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