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construction industry as a whole and found that abusive practices of the kind we have
documented elsewhere in the Gulf are also prevalent in Qatar. As described in the enclosed
summary, we found that key factors trap migrant workers in Qatar in exploitative jobs: the
exorbitant recruitment fees that nearly all of the workers we interviewed had paid in order to
obtain their jobs; and the restrictive kafala (sponsorship) system that prevents workers from
changing jobs or leaving the country without a sponsoring employer’s permission. In
addition, there is an inadequate legal and regulatory framework to protect workers’ rights.
Most notably, Qatari law prohibits migrant workers from forming trade unions, in violation of
these workers’ rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, and the
government fails to enforce adequately current laws that, at least on paper, are meant to
protect worker rights. In some cases, the exploitation and coercive circumstances in which
workers found themselves amounted to conditions of forced labor or human trafficking, as
defined under international law.
We are aware that in January 2004, Bechtel was awarded a contract to design and manage
construction of the New Doha International Airport, the planned completion of which was
featured as part of Qatar’s winning bid to host the World Cup, and we understand that your
company’s role in managing construction at that location is currently ongoing. We therefore
wish to draw your attention to the fact that we interviewed construction workers who said
they worked at the New Doha Airport and who alleged that their rights were not respected.
These workers did not claim to be in Bechtel’s employ. Instead, they said that they were
employed by local “manpower companies”— companies that supply additional labor to
other companies seeking to supplement their workforce in the short or medium term. They
asked us not to identify their employers for fear of reprisal.
We cite the workers’ interviews in our forthcoming report as illustrative of the issues that
arise in the construction sector in Qatar, including in connection with World Cup-related
work sites. In this case, we interviewed three workers who said that they worked at the new
airport site and alleged that the manpower companies for whom they worked did not respect
their rights. One worker alleged that his employer made illegal salary deductions, one said
that a recruitment agent in his home country promised a different, and to him preferable, job
than he was later assigned to in Qatar, and one said that the labor broker who arranged his
migration had promised him a higher salary before he migrated, that before departing he
had signed a contract written only in English, and that he did not know or understand its
contents. All three had paid recruitment fees in order to obtain their jobs, and none had their
passports in their possession.
We have taken note of Bechtel’s corporate commitments addressing labor rights. We are
aware, for example, that your Code of Conduct states that “Bechtel does not tolerate
activities that support trafficking in persons or the use of child labor or forced labor in the
performance of Bechtel contracts by our employees or our subcontractors” and that the
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