Indian migrant workers in Qatar make plea for repatriation

Indian migrant workers in Qatar, saying they have faced problems, including job loss, lack of accommodation and food, have asked on Twitter for their embassy to help repatriate them. One video showed Indian migrants standing in a long line outside the embassy in Doha.

With many migrant workers seeking to return home during the coronavirus pandemic, the Indian Embassy has operated 26 repatriation flights from Qatar, but Indian nationals in Qatar have taken to Twitter to ask to be repatriated. Some posted their phone numbers, passport numbers, and ID numbers on Twitter.

So far, 4,382 individuals and 126 infants have been repatriated from Qatar, the Indian Embassy in Doha said. The Indian population in Qatar reached 691,000 in 2018.

Per the Indian Embassy’s guidelines, return passage to India should be paid by the foreign employer or sponsor, but in case of a breakdown in the contract relationship, those seeking to return may be eligible for government-sponsored repatriation, under some conditions.

On the embassy’s tweet from Friday, most of the more than 80 comments were from those wishing to return home.

As coronavirus made its sweep across the globe, India imposed strict lockdown measures, suspending flights entirely, effectively shutting borders.

Meanwhile, the economic downturn caused by coronavirus left many migrant workers in the construction sector out of work as companies put projects on halt.

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