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its obligation is to ensure that employers respect the rights of workers by passing
appropriate laws and regulations, by monitoring and investigating potential labor rights
abuses, and by prosecuting abuses as required.
Qatar became a member of the ILO in 1972, and has ratified five of the eight ILO
conventions setting forth core labor standards. 79 Conventions ratified cover the elimination
of forced and compulsory labor, elimination of discrimination in employment and
occupation, and abolition of child labor. 80
According to the ILO Convention on Forced Labor (No. 29), forced or compulsory labor
“shall mean all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any
penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.” 81 According to
the ILO, “menace of penalty” can include: “…financial penalties, denunciation to
authorities—including police and immigration—and deportation, dismissal from current
employment, exclusion from future employment, and the removal of rights and
privileges.” 82 Examples provided by the ILO of the involuntary nature of work include:
physical confinement in the work location, psychological compulsion (order to work
backed up by a credible threat of a penalty), induced indebtedness (by falsification of
accounts, excessive interest charges, etc.), deception about types and terms of work,
withholding and non-payment of wages, and retention of identity documents or other
valuable personal possessions. 83
79 In the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the ILO set forth four core labor standards, which aim to:
(1) eliminate all forms of forced or compulsory labor; (2) effectively abolish child labor; (3) eliminate discrimination in
respect of employment and occupation; and (4) ensure the freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining.
International Labour Organization, Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, available at:
http://www.ilo.org/dyn/declaris/DECLARATIONWEB.static_jump?var_language=EN&var_pagename=DECLARATIONTEXT
(accessed August 29, 2011).
80 ILO Convention No. 29 concerning Forced or Compulsory Labor (Forced Labor Convention), adopted June 28, 1930, 39
U.N.T.S. 55, entered into force May 1, 1932, ratified by Qatar on March 12, 1998. ILO Convention No. 105 concerning Abolition
of Forced Labor (Abolition of Forced Labor Convention), adopted June 25, 1957, 320 U.N.T.S. 291, entered into force January
17, 1959, ratified by Qatar on February 2, 2007. ILO Convention No. 111 concerning Discrimination in Respect to Employment
and Occupation, adopted June 25, 1958, 362 U.N.T.S. 31, entered into force June 15, 1960, ratified by Qatar on August 18,
1976. ILO Convention No. 138 concerning the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment (Minimum Age Convention),
adopted June 26, 1973, 1015 U.N.T.S. 297, entered into force June 19, 1976, ratified by Qatar on January 3, 2006; ILO
Convention No. 182 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor
(Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention), adopted June 17, 1999, 38 I.L.M. 1207, entered into force November 19, 2000,
ratified by Qatar on May 30, 2000.
81 ILO Convention No. 29 concerning Forced or Compulsory Labor, adopted June 28, 1930, entered into force May 1, 1932, art. 2.
82 ILO, A Global Alliance Against Forced Labour: Global Report under the Follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental
Principles and Rights of Work (Geneva: ILO, 2005), p. 6.
83 Ibid.
45 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | JUNE 2012