Thread by @Ash_Stewart_

The economic fallout of #Covid19 means many blue collar workers in Dubai have been left destitute - no job, visa or money for a flight home

Large groups are now sleeping in parks in Satwa as they await repatriation

A thread & my @Telegraph story below:

telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/10/0…

Dozens of Sri Lankan expats are the latest to congregate in a Satwa park. Most are on a 3-month visit visa and came to Dubai earlier this year to seek work. Some had jobs but lost them due to the pandemic.

Some have been sleeping in the park for as long as 2 weeks

More than 480,000 Indians, 60,000 Pakistanis & 40,000 Filipinos have been repatriated since March, according to their consulates. There are no estimates on how many expats are out of work, but the consulate of the Philippines says about 30,000 Filipinos had lost their jobs

Susil was an “office boy” for a company for 5 years before losing his job in July

Buddhima, a graphic designer, slept on a grimy mattress in the park with two other men for 8 days. He renewed his tourist visa twice, before running out of money

A tearful Jemeela says she's been in the park for two weeks, after losing her job as a house maid. She said she's sick & wants to go home. It was incredibly difficult to understand her story, however, as she's Tamil and speaks no English - so none of us could translate much

Dubai Police are doing what they can to transport the homeless to temporary accommodation camps - but there are too many people showing up and not enough space

The embassies also cannot keep up with demand, and say they are doing what they can

On Wednesday, all repatriation flights to Sri Lanka from the UAE were suspended after a rapid escalation of #Covid19 cases in Sri Lanka

It means that there is no return home in sight for many of the homeless, and more people keep turning up in the parks

About 9,000 Sri Lankans have been repatriated since the beginning of the outbreak & about 6,000 are still waiting

This group were picked up from the park in September

Because publicly fundraising without being aligned with a charity is illegal in the UAE, private donors are being relied upon to pay for airfares for the homeless

There are so many incredible volunteers working across Dubai to try and organise flights home for these people

Mahnaz Faquih believes she has helped about 700 people be repatriated - including a recent group of 13 pregnant Sri Lankan and Ghanaian women

The Indian mother of two relies on her network of friends, and “friends of friends” to find donors, and has purchased about 20 herself

The Sri Lankan Welfare Association is doing what it can to help but is also relying on public funds after their main source of income, an annual concert in March, was cancelled due to the pandemic

They can't provide emergency accommodation as they don’t have government approval

It isn't only Sri Lankans though, there have been other huge groups of Ghanaians, Pakistanis, Nigerians etc that have shown up on the street looking for help

In August, this group of Nigerians were sleeping in a park after a charity stepped in & got them all repatriated

But authorities also warn that it's not all as straightforward as it seems - saying some have accommodation and are attempting to leapfrog waiting lists by moving outside

Some are also in the UAE illegally or are absconding from their jobs and attempting to get home for free

.@airindiain have repatriated over 85,000 Indians from Dubai since March. @flydubai has operated 831 repatriation flights for more than 100,000 passengers to 40 countries. @flysrilankan & @emirates didn't respond to questions about repatriations

In awe of the generous people working hard on the ground to organise repatriations & donations out of the goodness of their own hearts. Dubai is full of incredible people working hard for the betterment of people from all corners of the globe. Truly heartwarming.

And there are positive stories. Spoke to Stephen last week, a Nigerian who is home in Lagos now after spending 2 weeks in a park in August, in peak summer, with about 35 others

The nutritionist came to Dubai on a tourist visa in January before he was "scammed" and left homeless

... he paid Dh2000 to a recruiter for a security job, but was taken to accommodation and then abandoned

He was repatriated to Nigeria by a donor the day after I met him

“It’s a good thing to be back home,” he from Lagos. “I’m starting to build my life from the ground up.”

If you want to help become a donor please DM me. That's what's needed right now - there are enough people providing food and water etc. To the point where I offered to bring food and they politely declined

And read more in my story here:

telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/10/0…

Important to note here this is not a blame game. As one of my contacts said - Dubai Police are doing what they can, as are the private charities. The embassies are too slow or lacking in resources. NGOs lack the scale that is needed.

BY THE NUMBERS: The UAE’s population of 10 million is made up of an estimated 90 per cent expatriates. India provides the majority, with about 3.4 million people, followed by Pakistan (1.6m) and the Philippines (850,000). There are about 300,000 Sri Lankans.

Also important to note that FROM TODAY - anyone in the UAE without a valid visa will be fined. The UAE has until now had an amnesty in place to waive overstaying fines due to the pandemic

Fines are hefty: Dh200 for the first day & Dh100 for every day after that