Dubai Worker Crisis Brings India’s Migrant Welfare System Under Scan
NHRC Intervention Puts Focus on Overseas Labour Protection
New Delhi/Dubai: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of reports that a group of Indian migrant workers from Jharkhand has been stranded in Dubai after their employer allegedly seized their passports and failed to pay their wages, bringing the issue under formal human rights scrutiny in India and placing responsibility on domestic authorities to respond within a fixed timeframe.
In an order issued today, the Commission said it had acted on a media report indicating that at least 14 workers from Giridih, Hazaribagh and Bokaro districts were unable to return to India after being employed by a company engaged in transmission line work in the UAE. On the same day, the NHRC issued notices to the Jharkhand Chief Secretary and the Head of the State Migrant Workers Control Room, requiring a detailed report within two weeks. The Commission observed that, if true, the allegations constituted serious violations of human rights, including labour rights and statutory protections.
According to reports, the workers were taken to Dubai on the assurance of employment, but were later found trapped, with their passports allegedly seized to prevent them from leaving. One of the stranded labourers told reporters over the phone that the company had deducted most of their salaries to recover the cost of air tickets from India to Dubai. The same account said the workers were also being charged for accommodation and were left without sufficient money to purchase food. The group has appealed to the Jharkhand government to intervene and facilitate their safe return to India.
The NHRC noted that such allegations, if established, would amount to serious violations of basic human rights and labour protections. While the Commission has no jurisdiction over the UAE-based employer or the foreign government, its suo motu action places a statutory obligation on Indian public authorities to verify the facts of the case, examine the recruitment process and outline remedial steps taken at the state and central levels.
Officials familiar with migrant welfare mechanisms said the notice effectively requires the Jharkhand administration to clarify how the workers were recruited, whether mandatory emigration norms and contractual safeguards were followed and what coordination is underway with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Embassy in the UAE to secure the workers’ documents and unpaid wages.
The likely impact of the NHRC’s intervention is being assessed in the light of earlier precedents involving Indian workers stranded in specific West Asian countries. In previous cases concerning Indian construction workers left without pay or documents in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait following company shutdowns, NHRC notices were followed by coordinated efforts between state governments, the Ministry of External Affairs and Indian missions abroad to arrange temporary shelter, legal assistance and eventual repatriation. In several of those instances, compliance reports submitted to the Commission recorded wage settlements, recovery of passports or emergency travel arrangements, indicating that NHRC scrutiny can accelerate official response even when alleged violations occur outside Indian territory.
In the present case, there has been no independent official confirmation so far on whether the employer in Dubai has responded to the allegations or whether any progress has been made in restoring the workers’ passports and pending wages. The Indian Embassy in the UAE has also not issued a public statement on the specific claims as of now.
For the families of the workers in Jharkhand, the Commission’s move represents the first formal acknowledgement of the crisis by a statutory human rights body. The two-week deadline set by the NHRC for a detailed report from the state authorities is expected to determine whether the issue moves beyond media accounts towards concrete administrative and diplomatic action.
As the workers remain in Dubai awaiting relief, the case has once again highlighted the vulnerabilities of Indian migrant labourers in overseas employment and the limits and possibilities of India’s human rights mechanisms when alleged violations occur beyond national jurisdiction.
– global bihari bureau
