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While their response also states that workers who have been abused may have their
sponsorship transferred to another employer, they state that a total of only 89 workers
have received this type of sponsorship transfer during a three year period. 205 This number
represents just a small fraction of the thousands of workers who file complaints.
Anyone who shelters or employs an absconding worker faces severe penalties. In August
2011 Nasser al-Sayed, head of the Interior Ministry’s investigation department, reiterated
the ministry’s no-tolerance policy towards those who violate the law: “We implement the
law that stipulates that a person who gives shelter to absconding workers or employs him
or her is liable for imprisonment and payment of a sum ranging from QR [Qatari riyals]
20,000($5,490) to QR 100,000 riyals ($27,450) as fine. 206 While absconding charges mean
serious consequences for workers who face them, some workers feel they have little
choice but to take other jobs when employers fail to pay their salaries or violate contract
terms. In other cases, employers use absconding charges to punish workers for seeking
redress. A representative of Qatar’s National Human Rights Committee, a governmentfunded
human rights organization that regularly receives migrant worker complaints, told
Human Rights Watch that “many times when the police or the Ministry of Labor go to
investigate [absconding cases,] they find that escape reports are fabricated.” 207
Workers who wish to leave Qatar, whether for vacation or to depart permanently, must
obtain an exit permit from their sponsoring employer. Thus, even workers who obtain their
passports or travel documents and find money for their return airfare cannot leave the
country without their employer’s cooperation. “Even if the employee quits his job, the
employer should issue him an exit visa,” said M.T., a legal advisor who has assisted
migrant workers free of charge for over 18 years. Some workers told Human Rights Watch
that when they asked employers for permission to leave the country, employers refused or
demanded money from them. Manoj R., a Nepali worker who had been in Qatar for 16
months, migrated to Qatar thinking he would work as a driver at a monthly salary of 1,000
riyals (US$274). When he arrived, he found that his employers expected him to work as a
construction laborer for only 550 riyals (US$151). “I told my manager that I don’t want to
205 Ibid., p.12
206 Habib Toumi, Gulf News, “Qatar keen on applying anti-absconding laws,” August 22, 2011, available at:
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/qatar/qatar-keen-on-applying-anti-absconding-laws-1.855480 (accessed August 27, 2011).
207 Human Rights Watch interview with Hala al-Ali and representatives of the National Human Rights Committee, National
Human Right Committee building, Doha, June 19, 2011.
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