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NHRC calls for improved policies for migrant workers

Graphic: Migrant workers on a building site in Doha

The NHRC's 2014 report on the human rights situation in the country includes a series of recommendations to address the concerns of migrant workers.

n its 2014 report on the human rights situation in the country, Qatar's National Human Rights Committee has made a series of recommendations to address the concerns of the many migrant workers in the country.

The NHRC requested that the Ministry of Interior

  • Allow victims of the (illegal) visa trade and employees of blacklisted companies to change their sponsorship
  • Allow the transfer of sponsorship of workers who are barred from work or travelling overseas due to financial debt
  • Regularise the visa status of "free and loose workers" (such as masons, carpenters, plumbers and electricians, among others), who are not employed by any company although sponsored by them and are available for freelance work
  • Conduct raids on companies and if it is found that they have failed to get identification cards issued for their workers, those workers should be allowed to change their sponsorship

The NHRC has also urged the ministry to set up a human rights office at Hamad International Airport to assist newly arrived workers who may face complications.

In its recommendations to the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the NHRC asked for enforcement of the labour law clause which requires private companies to set up joint committees of workers and owners to amicably settle worker-employer disputes and work for employees' welfare.

The NHRC also recommended that the Supreme Judicial Council provide more translators in the court system.

Date: 18 September 2015

Source: The Peninsula


Image credits

  1. Migrant workers on a building site in Doha - Richard Messenger, Flickr; http://bit.ly/1Wbp7Ne