Migrant workers in the Gulf Cooperation Council region
Migrant workers in the Gulf Cooperation Council region involves the prevalence of migrant workers in the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Together, these six countries form the Gulf Cooperation Council , established in 1981. The GCC cooperates on issues related to economy and politics, and the subject of migrant workers constitutes a substantial part of the council's collaboration. All of the GCC countries are dependent on migrant labor to bolster and stimulate economic growth and development, as the GCC countries possess an abundance of capital while the domestic labor capacity is low. Although migrant workers in the Persian Gulf region amount to no more than 10% of all migrants worldwide, they constitute a significant part of the populations of their host countries.
Globally, all six GCC countries rank among the twenty with greatest noncitizen percentage of resident population. Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE are among the top ten countries accommodating the largest noncitizen populations in the world, occupying fourth and fifth place respectively. In Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE, the majority of the population comprises noncitizen laborers and in the latter two countries this proportion is as high as 80%. Furthermore, 95% of the workers active in the domestic and construction sectors are migrant workers. As of 2013, it was estimated that approximately 18 million legal migrants resided in the GCC region. Over the last few years the number of migrants residing in the GCC has increased considerably. The Gulf Research Center defines non-nationals as individuals having citizenship of a country outside the GCC region or lacking any recognized citizenship.
History
The history of migration to the GCC countries can be categorized into three waves.First wave
The first wave of migration to the GCC region occurred prior to the 1820 British arrival in the so-called Trucial States of modern-day Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE. The oldest known maritime trading route was between the Indus Valley civilisation and Dilmun in modern-day Bahrain. Traders often stayed in the Persian Gulf region for an extended period of time before returning to their port of origin. During the first wave, migrants mainly came from Asia and settled on the eastern shores of the Persian Gulf. Migration was often the result of trade relations between the Gulf and Asia. Migration was mainly undertaken by people from modern-day Iran and India who traveled to the Gulf. Most trading goods were exported to the Persian Gulf, while only a limited amount of goods was exported in the other direction. Pearls were the exception and the main trading product in places like Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Scholars such as Muhammad Azhar point out the longstanding relationship between Indians and the Persian Gulf, where many stayed for generations and even became citizens.Second wave
The second wave may be defined as the migration which took place after the British arrived in the Persian Gulf region in 1820. The British conflict with the Al Qasimi family, who held control over the Strait of Hormuz, started with the British refusal to pay toll for British ships passing through the Strait. Conflict broke out and the Qawasim fleet was destroyed. Pax Britannica was applied to the whole region, which included a series of treaties imposed on the region's leaders and which further cemented the position of Great Britain as the dominant power in the region. The British took control over the region and created the structures needed for increased trade. The British interest in the Persian Gulf region is often explained by the fact that Great Britain wanted to protect the sea route to India from rival colonial powers. The East India Company played an important role in this endeavour. Britain made Abu Dhabi a protectorate in 1820 and established control over Aden in 1839. Thereafter Great Britain gained power over Bahrain, Dubai, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. The power of the British in the Gulf region, combined with the structures put in place to promote trade, strengthened the relationship between the Persian Gulf region and India further. This, in turn, advanced migration from India to the Persian Gulf, especially Indian civil servants who would manage the relations between the Gulf and India. Based on the works of J.G. Lorimer and Al-Shaybani, the population of migrants in Qatar before the 1930s can be classified as Arabs, Persians, Baluchis, Indians, and Africans. Many of these communities are in fact economic migrants who came to Qatar to seek better opportunities in the pearl industry. The Hawalas, or Arabs who returned from Persia due to persecution of Sunnis play important roles in the pearl industry as craftsmen, merchants, and sailors. Indian merchant communities, albeit few in numbers, controlled imports such as foodstuff and functioned as economic middlemen between wealthy sheikhs who sourced pearls and European buyers. The Baluchis also migrated to Qatar to work as laborers and mercenaries or bodyguards whilst African slaves were brought from the Eastern coast of Africa to work in the pearl diving industry. These economic migrants not only play an important role in the development of the economy of the Gulf states before the discovery of oil, but they also have important influence on the culture of the region. In music, dance, and other areas, African beliefs and customs have considerable impact on the cultural typography of the Gulf states. The dialect of the Gulf countries also adopted many Persian terms and architectural styles.Third wave
The third wave took off due to rapid economic growth related to the intensified hydrocarbon exploration in the region. This led to the discovery of large quantities of crude oil. Although oil had already been discovered in GCC region during the beginning of the 20th century, the economic benefits of the oil resources were properly actualised during the 1960s and 1970s, as the GCC countries officially gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1971. The author Al Shehabi further argues that a capitalist approach to the economy became increasingly more dominant in the GCC region during this time period. Together with the oil boom, it constituted an important factor explaining the importation of migrant workers and economic development.The third wave of migration in the GCC can be attributed to the 1960s but intensified during the 1970s, as the increased wealth of the states led to plans of industrialization and modernization. The implementation of these plans increased labor demands, but the GCC countries and their populations did not possess the manpower or knowledge to meet these demands. The relatively small populations in the GCC countries, as well as limited numbers of female workers and male workers of the appropriate age, combined with a plenitude of foreign workers willing to migrate, constitute important "pull" and "push" factors which explain the migration growth of the 1970s. While seven of the Trucial States decided to unite and form the United Arab Emirates after gaining independence from the United Kingdom, an initiative taken by Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi and Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum of Dubai, both Qatar and Bahrain decided to found their own independent states.
During the 1980s and 1990s, while the inflow of foreign workers remained steady, the demographic composition of these migration flows changed. While the initial part of the third wave mainly brought Arab migrant workers to the Persian Gulf region, their numbers declined during the 1980s and 1990s as they were replaced with Southeast Asian migrants. In comparison, there were approximately 2.000.000 migrant workers in the oil-producing countries, of which 68% were Arab workers, while in 1983 the total number of migrant workers had risen to 5.000.000, of which only 55% were Arab migrants. More specifically, in Saudi Arabia the number of Arab migrant workers decreased from 90% to 32% between 1975 and 1985. This change in composition was caused by a change in attitude towards Arab foreign workers. At first, the shared language, religion and culture were seen as benefits by the GCC states. Nevertheless, the rise of Pan-Arabism in the region heightened authorities' fears of political activism and anti-government activities by Arab migrants. Furthermore, the authorities feared that the often low-educated Arab migrants would corrupt the culture of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. Thus Asia, and specifically India, became the obvious solution for the GCC countries, considering the historical ties, the geographical proximity and the abundance of workers willing to migrate to the Gulf region. All in all, the third wave has resulted in that more than 50% of the workforce in any of the GCC countries consists of migrant workers.
Demographics
Bahrain
Bahrain differentiates itself from other GCC countries. In 2013 the majority of Bahraini citizens were employed in the private sector. However, most migrant workers are also employed in the private sector. A smaller number are employed in the domestic sector. Approximately 80% of the non-Bahraini residents are men with a low level of education: 82.5% of non-Bahrainis have not finished secondary education. Non-Bahraini residents mainly work in construction, wholesale and retail, domestic work and manufacturing.In 2013, approximately 80% of all non-Bahraini nationals held some sort of employment, comprising 77% of the Bahraini workforce. In the private sector, non-nationals constituted up to 81% of the employees. Non-nationals occupy low-level positions in areas such as construction work and domestic household work, while non-Bahraini Arabs tend to hold higher status jobs, such as manager positions. As of 2013, 85% of the non-Bahraini residents were from Asian countries and 50% of the Asian migrants were of Indian origin.
In 2014, 84.4% of the non-nationals were from Asia, and 49.4% came from India.
In 2015, 51.1% of residents in Bahrain were foreign citizens. The amount of non-nationals peaked in 2010, when they constituted 54% of the population. In that same year, approximately 45.5% of the Bahraini residents were Asian migrants, while non-Bahraini Arabs constituted 4.7% of the total population and 1% of the population was European.