Getting Lucky: Client, not employer, decides how you live
Summary
Date Reported: 27 Jul 2020
Location: Qatar
Companies
Alfardan Properties - Client , Commercial Bank (CBQ) - Client , Frasers Hospitality - Client , GSS Certis (Certis subsidiary) - Employer , Hamad International Airport - Client , Jaidah - Client , Temasek , Wyndham Hotels & Resorts - Client , Mannai Corporation - Client , Marriott - Client , Kempinski Hotels - Client , Qatar General Electricity & Water (KAHRAMAA) - Client , Qatar National Bank (QNB) - Client , Rastec Properties - Client , Sephora - Client , IHG Hotels & Resorts - ClientProjects
Fraser Suites Doha - Client , Hamad International Airport (expansion) - Client , InterContinental Doha Hotel - Client , Marsa Malaz Kempinski - Client , The St. Regis Doha - Client , The Westin Doha Hotel & Spa - Client , W Doha - Client , Msheireb Downtown Doha - ClientOther
Government ( Sector not reported/applicable ) - UnknownAffected
Total individuals affected: 2000
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 2000 - Location unknown , Security companies , Gender not reported )Issues
Intimidation , Precarious/Unsuitable Living Conditions , Restricted mobility , Freedom of Expression , Right to Food , Personal Health , Wage Theft , Freedom of Movement , ImprisonmentResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Resource Centre
Story containing response: (Find out more)
Action taken: Noah approached the client who had subcontracted him, Msheireb Properties, and its parent, Qatar Foundation, detailing the poor living conditions he and other employees were living in through their whistleblowing procedures. Whilst Qatar Foundation had responded, the situation remained unchanged until Migrant-Rights.org published the below pieces and the workers on the Msheireb Downtown Doha project were rehoused in accommodation with more space. Workers employed by Certis deployed on other projects, however, remain in the camp in "indecent" and "hazardous" accommodation. Business & Human Rights Resource Centre approached Certis and their holding company Temasek, the landlord, 10 companies who were allegedly being provided with security guards by Certis from the camp, and 3 hotel companies who had previously sourced these workers. In May 2021, Noah/Malcolm Bidali was arrested by the Qatari authority, ostensibly because of his activism. He has been released and charged with spreading disinformation and receiving payments from a "foreign agent". See our ongoing coverage of Malcolm's case here.
Source type: NGO
GSS Certis... With contracts in hospitality, energy, transport, aviation, banking, education etc, it is by no means a small company.
The living conditions in question: six people crammed in a relatively tiny room, with three bunk beds, metal lockers and personal effects taking up a huge chunk of the space. The number of toilet and shower facilities fell short of the ratio stipulated by government regulations. There were over 2,000 of us in the ‘labour camp’...
It was only after Migrant-Rights.org published my reflections that things changed for us... on 21 June we were shifted back to the Industrial Area, back to the pre-Covid19 situation. Two days later though, we came back to three people per room, single beds, bedside table with a small lamp...
And by all, I mean all of us contracted to work for the Msheireb Downtown Doha project. The remaining blocks within the accommodation still house six people, crammed into tiny rooms...
the majority, if not all, of the guards employed by GSS Certis and housed in our camp work for some very big names here in Qatar and around the world.