As COVID-19 takes hold, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are going into lockdown mode to contain the outbreak. As businesses, factories and industries shut down, millions of migrant workers from South Asian countries such as Pakistan, India and Bangladesh have been laid off.
Facing a drastic slump in oil prices during the pandemic, Gulf economies have slowed down and expatriate workers may have become an encumbrance. According to the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) projections, except for Egypt and Djibouti, gross domestic product for every country across the Middle East and North Africa region will shrink this year, ranging from negative 1.1% growth for Kuwait to negative 12% for Lebanon to minus 58.7% for Libya.
