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would terminate the employment relationship and they would no longer be able to work in
Qatar. Omar J., who worked for a labor supply company in Qatar, told Human Rights Watch
that he received 350 riyals (US$96)less per month than he had been promised when he
migrated from Bangladesh, where he paid 270,000 taka (US$3,651) to a recruitment
agent. 231 He lived in a room with 17 other workers where the air-conditioning unit had been
broken for two weeks, in temperatures reaching 45 degrees Celsius (114 degrees
Fahrenheit), and said his company provided the workers in his camp with spoiled food. 232
When asked why he did not report his conditions, he said, “We don’t trust the Labor
Department. It’s useless. If we have any complaints [about] the company, the policemen
[Labor Department officials] immediately contact our Qatari employer. Then once [the
sponsor] finds out, he will say ‘you people [are] complaining,’ and will cancel [our visas.] A
few people were already canceled [for complaining].” 233
Expatriates who assisted workers in distress also emphasized that workers who brought
complaints before the Labor Department faced serious impediments to doing so. “For the
period after complaining, the worker will not get one single riyal [of his] salary, no food, no
place to stay,” said R.N., an expatriate who had helped members of his community for more
than 25 years and observed companies’ reactions to worker complaints. “Once they go to
[the] Labor Department, the company won’t keep them anymore. So they are ready to suffer
[their problems, rather than going.]” 234 Qatar’s Sponsorship Law makes it illegal for anyone
to shelter workers who have left their employer without permission. “No one will accept [to
shelter them] because then [you] would go to jail,” R.N. added. “You see some people
sleeping in the park. In some cases, I saw workers sleeping near their embassies.” 235
Workers who brought complaints before the Complaints Department said that they had
difficulty both reporting their complaints and surviving while awaiting resolution of their
grievances. Masud Y., a Bangladeshi construction worker who had spent 14 years with his
employer, said that he asked to return home after he became allergic to chemicals he used
in his work and began to suffer from chronic back pain. When he told his company he
wanted to return home, he said that his company manager offered to cancel his visa, but
refused to pay his end-of-service gratuity and ticket home, as required by Qatari law. He said
231 Human Rights Watch interview with Omar J., labor camp near al-Khor, Qatar, June 24,
232 Ibid.
233 Ibid.
234 Human Rights Watch interview with R.N., Ramada Hotel, Doha, June 16, 2011.
235 Ibid.
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