PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

The discrimination and exploitation encountered by Sri Lankan migrant women in the Middle East labour market have aggravated, which engenders significant challenges for numerous families, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study aims to explore Sri Lankan women’s uncertain living conditions with families during the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative research method was employed to collect data through a semi-structured interview guide and produce a descriptive analysis using the thematic analysis technique. Purposive sampling was performed to recruit Sri Lankan migrant women who stayed with their respective families in Bahrain. A total of 13 online in-depth interviews were conducted. Resultantly, Sri Lankan migrant women experienced significant challenges during the pandemic due to frequent humiliation and termination by employers, which significantly increased the pressure of living. The crisis negatively impacted Sri Lankan migrant women’s lives owing to increased family responsibilities, which led to high challenges in achieving a balance between work and family. Working in the Middle East and resettling in Sri Lanka were not as favourable as expected at their stage of work, which required them to adopt coping mechanisms to achieve their economic goal. However, the amount of relevant materials and social support for the migrant women was minimal. The present study advocates that women’s right to work should be protected and that welfare organisations should be expanded to reach more vulnerable families. The current findings enriched the existing knowledge corpus by providing empirical evidence in the broader sociological field, which could assist policymakers and researchers in future migration studies.

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