KOCHI: The six-storey Al-Mangaf building in the south of Kuwait City, which is under the lens after a devastating fire killed 49 persons, including over 40 from India, was home to migrant workers of various profiles, from engineers to accountants, and drivers to storekeepers.
Out of the 24 deceased from Kerala, Stephin Abraham Sabu (29), a native of Pampady in Kottayam, and Kelu Ponmaleri (58) of Elambachi in Kasaragod, were engineers; Kollam native Umarudheen Shameer (30) was a driver and Ranjith K (34), a native of Chengala in Kasaragod, was an accountant.
"What we have in our mind is labour camps that are in our popular culture. The fact is that there are labour camps of various types in the Gulf -- from tarpaulin/asbestos sheet covered labour camps to the ones that provide good accommodation and other facilities," said Divya Balan, assistant professor, international studies at Flame University, Pune, who specialises in expatriate issues.
Divya, who has done extensive field work by visiting labour camps across the UAE, however, added that most labour camps in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are overcrowded.
PP Narayanan, a former community welfare officer at the Indian embassy in Kuwait, though, said that labour camps run by Kerala businessmen in the Gulf have better facilities.
"Going by the outward appearance, the six-storey building that caught fire looks to have been a decent place. Further, labour camps run by Kerala businessmen tend to have better facilities," he said.
That said, the owner of the building will have to be held accountable for the accident, said Narayanan, adding that in Kuwait, expatriates are not allowed to own buildings.
The six-storey building in question had been rented by the NBTC group, a construction company owned by Malayali businessman K G Abraham.
Kuwait's deputy prime minister Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousuf, who is also minister of interior, was quoted in local media as saying the fire tragedy was a "result of the greed of the company and the building owners".
Added Narayanan, who retired from the embassy in 2020: "It needs to be probed if there are any violations in building rules."
Low-paid blue-collar workers, who work in hazardous conditions for long hours and are forced to live in often cramped and unsanitary housing provided by the companies, sadly don't even have insurance.
"Currently, there are no mandatory centralised provisions for insurance in most cases," said Divya.
"It would be ideal if we could ensure that insurance is a precondition for migration, especially to the GCC countries. An insurance that covers all eventualities. The Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana (PBBY) insurance scheme is there but it doesn't cover natural deaths," she said.
Meanwhile, Narayanan, who was in charge of ensuring compensation for accident deaths in Kuwait while he was at the embassy there, said the fire victims can get benefits ranging from Rs 20-40 lakh.
"It can take up to two years, but the families of the deceased can get compensation of about Rs 20-40 lakh," he said.
