Homeless migrants sleep rough under Dubai’s skyscrapers as Covid employment crisis bites

Dubai is witnessing a rare uptick in homelessness as migrant workers left destitute by the Covid downturn have begun sleeping out in parks under the glistening skyscrapers.

Blue collar workers from Asia and Africa say they are trapped after losing jobs and running out of money to return home.

Migrant workers who spoke to The Telegraph claimed they have been left abandoned after losing their jobs as the economy tightens.

With no jobs and expired visas, many have congregated in parks in Dubai’s poorer Satwa area, appealing for help for repatriation flights home.

Homelessness and poverty are not typically visible in the United Arab Emirates’ glitziest city.

White collar jobs have also been threatened by the pandemic in UAE, with many UK expats returning home since coronavirus. Dubai’s economy is geared towards heavy consumer spending in hospitality, luxury real estate and travel.

Oxford Economics, a UK forecaster, estimates 900,000 jobs are under threat among a population of under 10 million.

Blue collar migrant workers from poorer countries are paid low wages, work long hours and often live in cramped dormitories that have been coronavirus hotbeds.

Many also pay fees to recruiters in their home country, a practice common for low paying jobs in the Gulf.

Susil Kumara, one of a group of Sri Lankans now awaiting repatriation in a Satwa park, was an “office boy” for a company in Dubai for five years before losing his job in July. With his residence visa and accommodation terminated, he joined others in the park two weeks ago.

Another, Buddhima Egalla, a graphic designer, slept on a grimy mattress in the park with two other men for eight days. He came to Dubai to find work on a three-month tourist visa, which he renewed twice, before running out of money.

Nearby, a tearful Jemeela Abdul Salam says she has been in the park for about two weeks, after losing her job as a house maid.

“The police are telling us to go to the embassy but the embassy can’t help either,” Mr Egalla said. The Sri Lankan consulate has now provided them temporary accommodation as they await repatriation.

While the UAE has offered amnesties for hefty overstaying fines, many still cannot afford flight tickets or exit fees.

With embassies and authorities being slow to act, private donors are relied on to provide flight tickets. Others are taken to temporary accommodation camps by Dubai police, if there is space.

When contacted, the Government of Dubai Media Office did not answer questions about homelessness, but said they were “providing extensive assistance” to unemployed workers and Dubai Police was helping with emergency accommodation.

More than 480,000 Indians, 60,000 Pakistanis and 40,000 Filipinos have been repatriated since the outbreak began, according to their respective consulates. There are no reliable estimates on how many migrant workers are out of work, but the consulate of the Philippines in Dubai says about 30,000 Filipinos had lost their jobs – but many more remained in the UAE on a “no work, no pay” basis with their employers.

Isthiaq Raziq, of the Sri Lankan Welfare Association, says they cannot provide emergency accommodation as they do not have government approval, but are now coordinating repatriations with the embassy.

The association is also relying on donors for airfares after their main source of income, an annual concert in March, was cancelled due to the pandemic. Repatriating citizens was costly, Mr Razik said, as they must pay exit fees and quarantine in Colombo, as well as airfares.

“These people are very helpless, they’ve lost their jobs and they don’t have a single penny to pay.”

Nalinda Wijerathna, Dubai’s consul general of Sri Lanka, said 9,000 people had been repatriated and about 6,000 were still waiting. Limited capacity in Colombo’s quarantine facilities meant delays in availability for repatriation flights.

He said more people needed assistance than they could provide for, and some were attempting to leapfrog waiting lists by moving outside.

Anthony Iwueze was part of a group of 35 Nigerians sleeping in a rubbish-strewn Satwa park in August, after his company failed to pay his salary for three months. He joined a group of fellow Nigerians sleeping outside their consulate before police moved them to the park.

“We have suffered. We just want to go back,” he said at the time.

Stephen Oguntade was also there after being “scammed” by a recruitment agent. Mr Oguntade, a nutritionist, came to Dubai in January on a tourist visa to find work. He paid Dh2000 to a recruiter for a security job, but was taken to accommodation and then abandoned.

The two have since been repatriated to Nigeria by airfare donors.

“It’s a good thing to be back home,” Mr Oguntade said from Lagos. “I’m starting to build my life from the ground up.”

One of many volunteers who has stepped in to help, Mahnaz Faquih has been coordinating flights for homeless migrant workers for six months. The Indian mother of two relies on her network of friends, and “friends of friends” to find donors for airfares, and has purchased about 20 herself. There are strict laws around fundraising in the UAE, meaning flights must be paid by a single donor.

Ms Faquih, who owns a chain of medical clinics, says she believes she has helped about 700 people be repatriated – including a recent group of 13 pregnant Sri Lankan and Ghanaian women.

Co-ordinating now requires her attention around the clock.

Other volunteers The Telegraph spoke to would not speak publicly due to fear of repercussions.

Several had been asked to stop providing food to stop more people showing up on the street.

One man, who is organising citywide food drives, says the common theme for many people is “no work for months, lots of liabilities, no money for accommodation and living on one meal a day”.

“We were giving food for a few weeks to a labour camp of 200 people in Sharjah, whose employer had been in jail since August last year. The sad part is that most of these people aren’t paid for months and the only thing they want is to go back home.”

The man said the government must do more to protect blue collar workers, saying most of the country’s embassies are too slow or lacking in resources, and NGOs lack the scale that is needed.