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After the 5 rials (around Rs 800) given by the Indian embassy on Tuesday to meet emergencies exhausts, we will be again in the same situation. No money even for emergencies. Uncertainty on what to do is haunting us a lot.
These were the words of around 800 Indian workers who are stranded in an industrial town in Oman, without proper food, drinking water, shelter and valid work permit cards for the last few weeks.
“Now, the embassy has given us a little money. But after that what...,” the worker added.
Additionally, majority of the workers don’t possess a valid work permit visa as the company has failed to renew it on time.
The Indian workers were left in lurch by the company management by not providing salary for the last five months and according to the workers, the top officials of the company are Indians and it is their mismanagement which led to this situation.
Following the crisis, the workers had filed a complaint with the Indian embassy in Oman on 2 August and also with Oman’s manpower department.
“Now, the embassy and Oman government have put forward three options. One is to get a no objection certificate from the employer and return to India. The second is to get a local release and find a new job in Oman itself and third is to stay back and pursue the case on personal capacity,” a worker said.
“The proposals look fine at this moment. But we are worried. We have to fight a case and wait to get the money we have worked hard for. Isn’t this unfair,” a worker asked.
Another worker said that authorities are ready to ‘airlift’ us.
“But what about our pending salaries. A case is there, but we don’t know when we are going to get it,” the worker added.
According to workers, they landed in this trouble due the company’s mismanagement.
In addition to the Indian workers, there are a few number of Asian and Arab workers too stranded in the company.
“In all, there are 900 workers stranded,” a worker said adding that families back home are struggling a lot.
During mid-2014, global oil price started to fall putting pressure on Oman and other Gulf countries forcing companies and Arab governments to adopt several austerity measures.
Companies who are not getting fresh projects and funds released on time left their workers in lurch without payment, food and proper shelter.
Recently, Oman’s Central Bank also revealed that migrant remittances through money transfer houses showed a decline of 6.5 percent in 2016, as compared to 2015 in Oman.
After crossing the four billion mark in 2015, about 4.2 billion rials were remitted overseas that year. The number fell to 3.95 billion rials in 2016.
On Tuesday, the Indian embassy in Oman tweeted that their officer is at the site and are doing their best to resolve the crisis.
Meanwhile, another worker said that as the company has not renewed their labour cards on time, many have become undocumented.
If an undocumented migrant worker has to exit from Oman, he has to pay fine for overstaying without proper valid residence and work permit documents.
“There are many without proper work permit cards. Who will pay their fines if they have to exit,” another worker asked.
According to a document possessed through Right to Information Act from the Indian embassy in Muscat, till 15 July this year, the embassy has received 1,240 labour complaints already.
In 2016, the number of the cases was only 2,195.
A trade unionist in Oman said that companies should not take the workers' payment lightly.
Rita Samuel, an Indian social worker in Oman, said that such cases are popping up in Oman as the companies are struggling due to low oil prices.
However, Jose Chacko, a financial analyst in Muscat, said that the situation is bettering.
Quoting official statistics, Jose said that Oman’s budget deficit has decreased by 20 per cent in the first five months of 2017, mainly due to higher oil revenues as crude prices remained significantly up during January – May period against the same period of last year.
Oman’s 2017 budget is based on an oil price assumption of US$45 per barrel for the year. The average price at which Oman sold its crude stood at US$51.6 a barrel during the first five months of 2017, which is 51 per cent higher from average oil price of US$34.2 a barrel in the same period of 2016.
(The author is an Kerala-based journalist and can be reached @rejitweets.)
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