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An International Labour Organization (ILO) member since 1972, the government has ratified conventions protecting workers against forced labor, discrimination in employment and occupation, and prohibiting child labor. In 2009, the government ratified the UN Trafficking Protocol, and in October 2011, passed domestic legislation criminalizing human trafficking and sanctioning managers of corporations whose businesses involve human trafficking. However, inadequate implementation and oversight of current legal provisions mean they rarely translate to worker protections in practice and that employers can pick and choose what protections to offer, with relative impunity. In a letter to Human Rights Watch, officials from Qatar’s Labor Ministry state that “the Ministry has received no complaint of forced labor and it is inconceivable that such a thing exists in Qatar, as the worker may break his contract and return to his country whenever he wishes and the employer cannot force him to remain in the country against his will.” However, conditions of forced labor are not obviated by the right of a worker to break his contract and return home. When workers owe onerous recruiting fees, are not free to find new employers, and do not have custody of their passports, they are, in fact, very likely to be in conditions of forced labor, as defined by international law. In other instances, Qatar’s laws themselves facilitate abuse and prevent workers from effectively advocating for their interests. 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. Local law makes it impossible for workers involved in World Cup construction to engage in collective bargaining and push for better protections, as workers in South Africa and Brazil—hosts of the 2010 and 2014 World Cup—did, gaining wage increases and improved health and safety provisions. The Labor Law also does not require public reporting on workplace injuries and fatalities or specify that employers should be responsible for workers’ recruitment fees, while the immigration Sponsorship Law prevents workers from changing employers at will, allowing only workers who have filed abuse claims to seek permission to do so. 7 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | JUNE 2012
Necessary Steps Qatar’s Government Without immediate and significant reforms, the migrant workers upon whose labor the World Cup 2022 depends remain at high risk. The local organizing committee for the World Cup, the Supreme Committee for Qatar 2022, which has oversight and coordination responsibilities with regard to World Cup-related construction, “aims to achieve the best conditions to organize and accomplish World Cup 2022,” according to the Emiri decree that established this body. According to Decree No. 27 of 2011, the Supreme Committee’s tasks, among others, include working to create “an enabling environment to organise and accomplish the World Cup 2022 in all legal, regulatory, physical, social and economic development aspects.” The committee’s Secretary General Hassan Al Thawadi, during a January 17 2012, address at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, stated that “there are labor issues here in the country, but Qatar is committed to reform. We will require that contractors impose a clause to ensure that international labor standards are met.” Obtaining contractual guarantees for workers’ rights could be a critical and significant first step towards ensuring better protections, if the clauses are comprehensive, enforceable, and fully uphold internationally recognized fundamental labor rights. For example, any such clause should clearly address the serious problems associated with recruitment fees and retention of workers’ passports or other identity documents. However, for the government to adequately protect migrant workers’ rights, further legal and policy reforms are needed. In May 2012 Qatari media quoted Labor Undersecretary Hussein Al Mulla as saying that the government was considering the establishment of a Qatari-led labor committee to advocate for workers’ rights, and that the government would replace the sponsorship system with “a contract between the employer and the worker.” However Al Mulla specified that the composition of the board (and decision-making entity) of any workers’ committee would be restricted to Qatari citizens, and that foreign workers could only vote to elect board members. While the comments regarding the government’s willingness to reform sponsorship are a welcome indication, there does not appear to be a clear timetable for such reforms, and it is not clear whether they would be implemented before major construction on World Cup-related projects is commenced. Furthermore, the proposal for an elected body to advocate for workers’ rights falls far short of international labor law requirements for free association, which includes the right of workers to freely BUILDING A BETTER WORLD CUP 8
Page 1 and 2: H U M A N R I G H T S W A T C H Bui
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Page 33 and 34: Methodology Human Rights Watch cond
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after their arrival), or penalizes
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The New Doha International Airport
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disciplinary purposes, and up to 50
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Qatar for three years, and that his
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people [have to share] one bathroom
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of 191 Nepali workers from all caus
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matters that the foreigner has to r
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Aspire Zone The Aspire Zone is the
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[an] emergency exit [from the count
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While their response also states th
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Qatar’s labor ministry has taken
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Without available translators or in
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would terminate the employment rela
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Qatar’s Sponsorship Law states th
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etween January 2009 and September 2
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notarized undertakings in workers
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• Ensure that courts reviewing la
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• Finance a public awareness camp
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Acknowledgements This report was re
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Qatar from charging workers fees, b
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interviewed for this report said th
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Qatar, local employers and recruitm
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Request for Information Human Right
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Sponsorship-related problems: • A
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The administration has received no
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Regarding healthcare, it is well kn
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Qatari laws do not permit charging
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Qatar, which require the approval o
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4. Asks the employer or his represe
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Regarding training, Article 99 of t
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Regarding the second question, on t
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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH 350 Fifth Avenue
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process of writing to relevant comp
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• arrange for independent monitor
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BUILDING A BETTER WORLD CUP 126
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World Cup. We have enclosed a summa
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deception and the disparity between
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CH2M HILL Response to Human Rights
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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH 350 Fifth Avenue
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We would like to take this opportun
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Aspire Logistics Response to Human
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construction industry as a whole an
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• show that you have taken all po
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