Report finds 2022 FIFA World Cup host country Qatar is still falling short on migrant workers’ rights
Workers in Qatar face wage violations ahead of the FIFA World Cup, the U.S. blocks imports from a Taiwanese ship due to forced labor conditions, and The Freedom Fund requests proposals to support Ethiopian migrant domestic workers.
In a comprehensive 78-page report on wage theft in Qatar released yesterday, Human Rights Watch highlights ‘persistent and widespread’ violations, and the ineffectiveness of the Wage Protection System (WPS) and justice mechanisms in holding employers responsible.
For the report How Can We Work Without Wages?: Salary Abuses Facing Migrant Workers Ahead of Qatar’s FIFA World Cup 2022, Human Rights Watch interviewed 93 migrant workers working for 60 different employers and companies between January 2019 and May 2020, all of whom reported some form of wage abuse by their employer such as unpaid overtime, arbitrary deductions, delayed wages, withholding of wages, unpaid wages, or inaccurate wages.
According to the report, taking employers and their companies to the Labour Relations department or the Labour Dispute Resolution Committees is difficult, costly, time-consuming, ineffective, and can often result in retaliation. Workers describe taking legal action as a ‘Catch-22’ situation – indebted if you do, indebted if you don’t.
The report describes three key factors that drive and facilitate wage abuses:
1) The kafala (sponsorship) system, which ties migrant workers’ visas to their employers. In 2017 Qatar committed to abolishing the kafala system and since then has introduced some positive measures, yet employers are still responsible for securing, renewing, and cancelling residency permits for migrant workers and are thus still able to severely restrict workers’ ability to change jobs.
2) Deceptive recruitment practices both in Qatar and in workers’ home countries, that leave migrant workers already indebted when they arrive in Qatar, having paid between $693 to $2,613 in recruitment fees to secure jobs – then finding themselves compelled to work for months without pay.
3) ‘Pay when paid’ policies, that leave migrant workers without pay, due to subcontractors’ insolvency issues higher up the supply chain. While some companies in Qatar deliberately commit wage abuse for additional profits, others may be unable to pay workers in full and on time because of payment disruptions in other areas of their business. Other countries have adopted policies and laws that aim to tackle the problem of unpaid wages for workers as a result of ‘pay when paid’ policies, however, Qatar has yet to do so.
Worker testimonies in the report, including the first-person account of a Kenyan worker struggling to recoup his wages, demonstrate the difficulties they face in accessing justice in Qatar. In its response, Qatar’s Government Communications Office (GCO) accused the organization of ‘intentionally misleading readers while performing a disservice to those they claim to be assisting’ and stated that a ‘backward-looking annual report does little to address the specific challenges raised by the workers’.
Here’s a round-up of other noteworthy news and initiatives:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection last week issued a Withhold Release Order (WRO) blocking imports of seafood harvested by the Da Wang, a Vanuatu-flagged Taiwan-owned distant water fishing vessel, based on information that reasonably indicates the use of forced labor on board, including physical violence, debt bondage, withholding of wages, and abusive living and working conditions.
The Freedom Fund is requesting proposals to support delivery of its hotspot program strategy to prevent the exploitation and servitude of Ethiopian migrant domestic workers who travel to the Middle East. This funding is provided through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of State, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP office), under its Program to End Modern Slavery (PEMS). Concept Notes are due on 13 September 2020, and the Request for Proposals can be found here.
Last week, the UK Space Agency announced £3.4 million of new funding for 10 projects that back UK academics using space to tackle global development problems – including human trafficking and forced labour.
Malaysia has deported a migrant worker from Bangladesh who was interviewed in a documentary about the maltreatment of foreign laborers in Malaysia during the government’s efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19.
A recently published blog post by the Council on Foreign Relations discusses the need to prioritize multidisciplinary interventions coupled with innovation, technology and entrepreneurial thinking, as human trafficking evolves during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A large coalition of civil society organizations and trade unions, including Migrant Forum Asia, has recently launched the ‘Justice for Wage Theft’ campaign calling for a justice mechanism to address the situation of migrant workers who have been repatriated without the opportunity to lodge a claim for their due wages and other benefits.
UNODC is seeking a legal expert to conduct an assessment and analysis of existing national legal frameworks on Trafficking in Persons, including the criminalizing of TIP and related activities, and their implementation across East Africa.
Seed Foundation, a locally registered NGO in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, is recruiting for multiple positions to support their team including a Senior TIP Case Manager.
Share your news
Post your experiences from the field and initiatives to feature