Coronavirus: Volunteers feed hundreds of Sharjah labourers left out of work

Spiritual centre House of Om supplied food to workers waiting for repatriation flights home

Volunteers from House of Om give food to unemployed labourers at their accommodation in Sharjah Industrial area. (Pawan Singh / The National) 

A spiritual centre in Dubai is delivering food to about 250 unemployed labourers.

Volunteers from Taijitu House of Om, a multi-faith centre in Jumeirah, Dubai, said many of the men had not been paid since their employer went out of business last year.

The coronavirus outbreak has only deepened their plight and many in the Sharjah accommodation site now await repatriation flights.

The centre began regular food drives after receiving government permits shortly before Ramadan.

“At the House of Om all the focus was on wellness and healthcare, from the spiritual to the physical to the mental, with workshops for people to wake up their minds,” said Claudia Essex, a holistic healer from Portugal.

“Now with permission from the government, we have shifted the focus.

“It’s a community for sharing love and gratitude and health and this is one of the ways we can help."

On Saturday, she and a handful of other volunteers arrived at the gates of a Sharjah labour accommodation block with car loads of food.

Sacks of potatoes and rice, cooking oil, pulses, onions and water were distributed at the gates of the complex in the emirate's Industrial Zone 15.

Its residents are 250 men from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh who say they were stranded in the UAE last August after their company closed.

They have survived from donations, unable to afford repatriation flights.

“I want to go to India,” said Abilash Khanth, a general foreman who received his last pay cheque in August 2019.

“I don’t want a salary, I don’t want benefits. For 10 months my wife is calling me, ‘what are you doing there? Come here, come here’.”

Mr Khanth, 37, worked for the company for more than six years. His visa expired mid-March and he cannot afford a ticket home to Kerala, India.

The camp has grown less crowded as people repatriated.

Mr Khanth shares a room with one man and spends his days watching TV on his phone.

Groups of about 10 men cook together and share meals and pool money for an internet connection.

This is just one of the several sites that House of Om supports with food drives.

The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent economic slowdown has left thousands of labourers out of work and awaiting repatriation.

At the same time, the pandemic has spurred UAE residents to donate and volunteer.

“I think all the people are more united, more responsible,” said Ekaterina Gorbunova, a volunteer and yoga instructor.

“I can tell you, most people are waiting to know when the next drive is.”

Ms Essex agreed.

“Before it was talk and less action,” she said. “Now it’s action.

“With Covid-19 no one has the same financial stability as four months ago but it’s unbelievable the way all people show support," she said.

“Instead of fear, I feel people see what they have with gratitude, as a blessing. People say, ‘thank God, I still can help’.”

Thousands in the UAE have come together to help people who have lost jobs or are surviving on lower salaries amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In April, Dubai launched a campaign to provide 10 million meals to those in need.

This was the country's biggest community campaign that provided meals or food parcels to support people and families during Ramadan.