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work contract and had received no explanation of contract terms in a language they could understand. While Qatar’s labor law and accompanying regulations require employers to pay wages on time, meet minimum housing standards, provide on-site medical care, and set standards for workers’ health and safety, Human Rights Watch found that employers drastically varied in their compliance with these requirements. Common worker complaints included nonpayment or underpayment of wages, illegal salary deductions, lack of access to medical care, and employers’ failure to secure work permits. Some workers interviewed for our report said that employers owed them months of back wages, while others said employers made illegal deductions from their monthly salary. Many workers reported that employers withheld between one and three months of their pay at the start of employment, as a “security deposit” to prevent them from quitting. Housing, Health and Safety Workers nearly uniformly reported housing conditions that did not meet Qatar’s minimum housing standards, which require employers to house only four workers per room and to refrain from using bunk beds (double beds) in worker accommodations. Workers interviewed for our report slept in bunk beds (double beds) with up to 25 other workers in the same room. Workers also told Human Rights Watch they worked under unhealthy and often dangerous conditions, doing construction work on roofs or high scaffolding without safety ropes, or working in deep trenches or enclosed pipes where they risked suffocation. Qatar does not publish data on worker injuries or fatalities, and only some embassies shared this information with Human Rights Watch, making it difficult to estimate the extent to which workers risk their health or safety while carrying out construction. However, according to analysis from the Qatar National Health Strategy, a government healthcare initiative, “[Qatar has] a rate of about four to five fatalities per 100,000 workers, approximately double the rate in the European Union.” Passport Confiscation The workers we interviewed reported that employers exercised additional control over them by confiscating their passports and through the exit visa system. Qatar’s sponsorship law prohibits employers from holding workers’ passports after they complete the procedures required to finalize their work visas. However, nearly all the workers 97 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | JUNE 2012
interviewed for this report said that their employers held their passports, and that they could only retrieve them with their employer’s consent. In addition, under Qatar’s sponsorship law, workers who wish to leave the country must secure an exit permit from their sponsoring employer. Denial or delay of exit visas proved another method employers used to control workers. Both passport confiscation and denial of free movement, including permission to exit the country, constitute forms of coercion that contribute to forced labor. Forced Labor In the worst cases we found, workers were subjected to forced labor, or situations analogous to forced labor, in which employers told workers they could not quit jobs that they had not agreed to perform and leave the country unless they paid their employer large sums of money. Work extracted under menace of penalty and for which a person has not offered himself voluntarily is forced labor and banned under international law. Redress Mechanisms Workers we interviewed who lodged labor complaints said they faced immediate termination of their employment and eviction from their accommodation. Thus workers who lodged complaints had to be prepared to give up their jobs, and forgo employment for months while seeking resolution. Workers faced severe obstacles to pursuing court cases, given the time it would take to pursue claims and their inability to legally work during that time. Domestic Protection Gaps Qatar has not signed key international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Qatar has no minimum wage, and while the labor law allows Qatari workers to unionize, it prohibits migrant workers from joining unions. In making this distinction, the law discriminates against migrant workers in violation of international law. In addition, the fact that Qatari law prohibits migrant workers from forming trade unions violates these workers’ right to freedom of association and collective bargaining, which is a core international labor right identified by the International Labor Organization (ILO). Qatar has been a member of the ILO since 1972. BUILDING A BETTER WORLD CUP 98
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H U M A N R I G H T S W A T C H Bui
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Copyright © 2012 Human Rights Watc
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To Construction, Labor-Supply, and
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Based on interviews with 73 migrant
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employers to ensure potable water,
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whether they forfeit their rights i
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Necessary Steps Qatar’s Governmen
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secretary-general of FIFA, stated t
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ather than directly by the companie
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(above) Massive construction projec
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(above) A migrant construction work
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Hallway lights illuminate a worker
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20 Building a better world cup
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This Bangladeshi migrant worker tol
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Migrant workers housed in Doha’s
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26 Building a better world cup
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Methodology Human Rights Watch cond
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I. Background Qatar, a Gulf country
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Meanwhile, migrant workers’ labor
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labor is temporary. Once their job
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“mandatory contract language and
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of 2004 set a maximum prison term o
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However, the lack of official compl
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Even on its face, the Labor Law lac
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The Sponsorship Law requires reside
Page 51 and 52: Qatar has not ratified conventions
Page 53 and 54: if they occur. 90 Former UN Special
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Page 57 and 58: or who have learned of job opportun
Page 59 and 60: written agreements into real, effec
Page 61 and 62: offered himself voluntarily.” 114
Page 63 and 64: after their arrival), or penalizes
Page 65 and 66: The New Doha International Airport
Page 67 and 68: disciplinary purposes, and up to 50
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Page 71 and 72: people [have to share] one bathroom
Page 73 and 74: of 191 Nepali workers from all caus
Page 75 and 76: matters that the foreigner has to r
Page 77 and 78: Aspire Zone The Aspire Zone is the
Page 79 and 80: [an] emergency exit [from the count
Page 81 and 82: While their response also states th
Page 83 and 84: Qatar’s labor ministry has taken
Page 85 and 86: Without available translators or in
Page 87 and 88: would terminate the employment rela
Page 89 and 90: Qatar’s Sponsorship Law states th
Page 91 and 92: etween January 2009 and September 2
Page 93 and 94: notarized undertakings in workers
Page 95 and 96: • Ensure that courts reviewing la
Page 97 and 98: • Finance a public awareness camp
Page 99 and 100: Acknowledgements This report was re
Page 101: Qatar from charging workers fees, b
Page 105 and 106: Qatar, local employers and recruitm
Page 107 and 108: Request for Information Human Right
Page 109 and 110: Sponsorship-related problems: • A
Page 111 and 112: The administration has received no
Page 113 and 114: Regarding healthcare, it is well kn
Page 115 and 116: Qatari laws do not permit charging
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Page 119 and 120: 4. Asks the employer or his represe
Page 121 and 122: Regarding training, Article 99 of t
Page 123 and 124: Regarding the second question, on t
Page 125 and 126: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH 350 Fifth Avenue
Page 127 and 128: process of writing to relevant comp
Page 129 and 130: • arrange for independent monitor
Page 131 and 132: BUILDING A BETTER WORLD CUP 126
Page 133 and 134: World Cup. We have enclosed a summa
Page 135 and 136: deception and the disparity between
Page 137 and 138: CH2M HILL Response to Human Rights
Page 139 and 140: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH 350 Fifth Avenue
Page 141 and 142: We would like to take this opportun
Page 143 and 144: Aspire Logistics Response to Human
Page 147 and 148: construction industry as a whole an
Page 149 and 150: • show that you have taken all po
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