Qatari charity feeds expat workers in virus limbo

Qatar Charity has been delivering daily meals to around 4,000 migrant workers, many confined in the Industrial Area in the south of Doha.

By AFP

2020-04-17

Qatar charity workers prepare food parcels on April 16th. A restaurant better known for fine dining has lent its facilities to Qatar Charity to feed migrant workers confined to an area of Doha's southern Industrial Area after the pandemic outbreak. [Karim Jaafar/AFP]

Volunteers stack thousands of trays of steaming curry in a Doha kitchen, readying them to be distributed to low-income migrant workers facing food shortages while under lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The non-governmental organisation Qatar Charity launched an initiative in recent weeks to deliver daily meals to around 4,000 migrant workers, many confined in the working-class Industrial Area in the south of the capital Doha.

Tens of thousands of residents were quarantined in the area after cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) were confirmed among the community last month.

The area faced food shortages in the early days of the lockdown, according to residents, diplomats and NGOs, with reports that stores hiked prices to unaffordable levels.

Qatar charity workers prepare food for migrant workers in a restaurant kitchen in Doha on April 16th. [Karim Jaafar/AFP]

Qatar charity workers package meals on April 16th to be distributed to Doha's migrant workers who are under quarantine. [Karim Jaafar/AFP]

In response to a government request, Qatar Charity started distributing meals out of four kitchens, one of which was lent to the group by a restaurant better known for fine dining.

"We want everyone to feel there are people who care about them, that they are not alone," said Qatar Charity volunteering supervisor Mohammed Ali al-Ghamdi.

Around him, more than a dozen volunteers packed meals and loaded them onto a decontaminated delivery van.

"Labourers in Doha do an amazing job, this is thanks from the community," he said.

Qatar, home to hundreds of thousands of foreign workers, has reported seven deaths from COVID-19 and 4,103 cases so far.

Qatari officials have said they are considering easing the lockdown on the Industrial Area after undertaking widespread testing, detection and treatment.

The district has been ringed with police checkpoints and a sterilisation unit deployed to disinfect delivery vehicles.