Pocket full of mumbles

According to a just-released study, 4.5% of expatriate workers in Qatar live below the poverty line. However, the head of the study, Egyptian statistician Dr Heba Ellaithy, emphasized, "There are no poor people in Qatar." She went on to say, "Also, De Nile is a river that runs right by my home in Cairo." How are there no poor people in Qatar if 4.5% of expatriates, which is to say around 3.6% of the total population, live under the poverty line?

The shocking thing is that the study's definition of poverty is an income of less than $1 a day. This international poverty line may make sense in parts of Africa and Asia, but the cost of living here in Qatar is hardly less than in the U.S. I can't imagine trying to survive on $1 a day here, even if your employer provides your housing and some meals.

So who are these approximately 30,000 people living on less than $1 a day? They're not unemployed, because foreigners without jobs get sent back to their home country. On the other hand, if the study is counting personal income and not household or family income, they might include stay-at-home spouses who have no income but can't be considered poor. Is this because there's no minimum wage? Is it due to the common problem of employers not paying their workers for months on end? How does this happen?

I'm both confused by the vague article and perturbed by the implications.