UN agency criticises Qatar over migrant workers’ rights

Published On: Tue, Apr 1st, 2014

UN agency criticises Qatar over migrant workers’ rights

Figures show 36 Nepalese and Indian workers died in February in Qatar, which is due to host 2022 World Cup

 

The International Labour Organisation has criticised Qatar over its policy towards overseas construction workers, as official figures revealed the death toll among migrants has not abated despite international pressure.

The UN agency called for a series of reforms in the Gulf emirate to end the abuse of workers’ rights that has been highlighted in a string ofGuardian reports.

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) said the ILO’s criticism of Qatar – based on the findings of a three-person panel – was “exceptionally strong”. The ITUC has claimed that 4,000 workers could die before a ball is kicked at the 2022 World Cup finals.

Qatar is spending £123bn in the next four years alone on a major infrastructure construction drive, of which the 2022 World Cup is part. Authorities have said they are investigating claims of migrant deaths and abuse of workers’ rights.

New figures from the Nepalese and Indian embassies showed that 36 workers died in Qatar in February this year, although not all of those may have been on building sites. Figures from the Indian embassy showed a further 26 Indian migrant workers died in March.

In February the Guardian revealed that more than 500 Indian migrant workers had died in Qatar since January 2012 and that more than 380 Nepalese had died in 2012 and 2013.

The ILO upheld a complaint from the ITUC and Building and Wood Workers International on the right of migrant workers to join a trade union and collectively bargain in Qatar.

“The ILO’s criticism of Qatar is exceptionally strong, and confirms the appalling lack of even the most basic legal protections for Qatar’s exploited migrant workforce,” said the ITUC general secretary, Sharan Burrow. “Qatar’s rulers must end their system of modern slavery and accept that their outdated and repressive labour laws have to change.”

The three-person panel – comprising a government representative from China, an employee representative from the UAE and a worker representative from Nepal – called on the Qatari government to ensure sufficient sanctions were imposed on the contractors and middle men who exploit the kafala system.

A series of newspaper reports and studies by human rights organisations have shown that large numbers of the 1.4 million migrant workers in Qatar endure appalling conditions and that some are left effectively trapped in the country by the kafala system that ties them to their employers.

“The committee calls on the government to take effective measures to ensure that adequate sanctions are applied to employers who impose forced labour,” said the ILO report. “In this regard, it emphasises the importance of ensuring that law enforcement actors and the judiciary are adequately trained and sensitized on forced labour practices in the country, particularly as penalties play an essential role in the deterrence of forced labour practices.”

A delegation of MEPs who sit on the human rights committee of the European Parliament travelled to Qatar last week before a planned visit by the Fifa president, Sepp Blatter. Mario Dravid, chair of the committee, said he had been told by the prime minister, HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani, and other government representatives that Qatar was taking the problem seriously and planned changes to thekafala system.

“The delegation was informed that there will be a deep and comprehensive revision of the sponsorship system in the country,” he said. “The government is seriously thinking on this issue and we hope that it will take place sooner than later as migrant workers constitute 96% of the workforce in the country.”

A report commissioned by the Qatari government from the law firm DLA Piper in the wake of the Guardian’s initial reports was due to be published by the end of March. MEPs were told last week that the report was imminent.

The ILO has given the Qatari government until November to report back on reforms to its labour laws