The Philippines has disclosed that it would not send any more workers to Qatar until the fallout from a regional political crisis became clear. Several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have severed diplomatic relations with Qatar.
Saudi Arabia has blocked all land, sea and air routes to Qatar, and the UAE has closed its airports and harbours to Qatari flights and shipping. The Philippine government said it was concerned about the fate of 140,000 Filipinos workers already in Qatar, particularly given suggestions that the blockade could lead to food shortages.
“We know for a fact that Qatar does not produce its own food. If anything happens and they ran out of food and food riots take place definitely our [foreign workers] will be the first victims,” said Silvestre Bello, head of the Philippine Department of Labour and Employment. The suspension applies to newlyhired and returning Filipino workers.
“Even those who are ready to go we have to temporarily suspend, for their own protection because we have to assess the situation first before we could allow again, the deployment of our migrant workers,” Bello said.
According to CNNMoney, the Arab states have accused their neighbour of supporting terrorism and destabilising the region but Qatar says the claims are “unjustified” and “baseless.”
Qatar has a population of just over 2.2 million but most of the people living there are foreign nationals. The gas-rich state relies heavily on migrant workers to keep its economy ticking over. They include engineers, doctors and bankers, as well as construction workers hired to build stadiums for the Qatar 2022 soccer World Cup.
Indian government relaxed
There are also 650,000 Indian nationals in Qatar, making up the biggest expat community. The Indian government so far appears relaxed about their fate. “There is no challenge that arises for us out of this situation,” India’s foreign minister Sushma Swaraj said.
“When it comes to us, we are only concerned that no Indians get caught in the middle of this because they have put in travel restrictions. If any Indian is stopped, we will bring them back here.”
