Huge influx of migrant workers in Qatar

Khalifa Al Muslemani & Basheer Yusuf Al Kahlout

While the average population growth rate in the world is two to three percent, the population of Qatar has increased by an alarming 10.3 percent in the past one year. Although the growth rate dropped to 1.14 percent in 2010 and was only 2.23 percent in 2012, the figure went up this year due to a huge influx of migrant workers.

The current rise in population picked up in late 2012, when it began increasing at an average rate of 8.4 percent. 

The migrant workers, as we know, are arriving in the country for a number of major infrastructure development projects, which include the Qatar rail and metro projects.

Regional surveys reveal that over 60 percent of Qatari companies have already gone on a hiring spree and are recruiting foreigners holding engineering, business management and administration degrees.

Engineers, business management and administration professionals are in great demand. However, the majority of migrant workers include semi-skilled construction hands.

The number of such workers is expected to grow as days go by and as new development projects are launched.

A popular financial analyst and columnist, Basheer Al Kahlout, argues that the current “abnormal” rate of population growth will have a number of negative implications on the social and economic fabric of the country.

“This extraordinary increase in population is because of the on-going as well as upcoming infrastructure and gas projects, which means that hundreds and thousands of workers will come to live in Qatar very soon,” Kahlout said.

He said that such a high rate of population increase will clearly take a toll on Qatar’s social and economic infrastructure, which is currently not in a position to accommodate so many people.

The current figures indicate that by 2015, the population of the country may cross the 2.5-million mark.

Pointing to a number of issues due to increasing population, Al Kahlout said that the existing infrastructure facilities would be under “enormous stress”, which will not be limited to traffic jams on the roads and long queues at several service facilities (including key government services like immigration).

 “Many problems could arise. As it is the infrastructure facilities are under stress, which include the roads, electricity and water supply, as well as the health and education sectors.”

This will also reflect negatively on the productivity of the people in general as they will spend more time stuck in traffic jams and crowded areas, with no alternative in sight. The rate of accidents and the spread of different kinds of diseases cannot be overlooked in such a scenario. 

“Pressure on existing facilities will lead to an expenditure of billions of riyals on expansion and construction of new facilities, which will reflect on the government budget.”

Al Kahlout said that the government would not have had to spend that much if the demographics of the country were changing at a normal pace.

“For instance, if the rate of population increase was below four percent on average, then the population would be less than two million by 2016. That would be a normal growth rate for Qatar.”

The financial analyst and columnist also suspects that if the prices of oil drop, it will reflect on Qatar’s expenditure.

“The general speculation in the market is that Libya, Iraq and Iran will resume their export of oil, which will affect Gulf countries, including Qatar.”

The general budget of the government will bear extra expenditure on account of certain subsidies it provides on goods and supplies such as fuel, electricity, medicine and food items, among other things, he argued.

The population increasing at such a rate will also cause environmental problems with an increase in pollution.

“Anyone who has lived in Qatar during the 1970s and 1980s will know and understand the difference in the environment today. Experts know about the dangers the environment faces because of the increase in the number of buildings, roads, bridges and water desalination plants and factories. Where will we be building green belts?”

The most obvious and apparent affect will be on the demographic structure of society, where there is a major disparity between the male-female ratios.

“The majority of people coming to Qatar will be from non-Arab and non-Muslim backgrounds, which will come to affect the identity of the country very soon.”

A report released by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) last week said that four major non-Arab expatriate groups make up more than 1.2m people in Qatar, more than half the country’s current population. 

They include 544,802 Indians, 340,679 Nepalese, 184,648 Filipinos and 137,245 Bangladeshis, as their countries are major exporters of manpower, media reports quoted the NHRC as saying in its report. 

The report also shows that nearly 17 percent (92,224) of the Indian expatriate population here lives with families. However, 99 percent (339,901) of the Nepalese population comprises single workers. 

Al Kahlout argued that Qatar will face more political pressure regarding allegations of abuse of workers’ rights as local bodies may not be able to keep checks on them given their increasing numbers.

The majority of companies prefer to import cheap labour from developing countries to reduce their costs and spending, in which case the local population may struggle for jobs.

“The number of jobless people among Qataris and the expatriates born here will increase further. These are all very dangerous implications of population growth, the columnist said.”