Qatar: Majority of workers interviewed by Al Jazeera face "threats, harassment & exploitation" following job transfer applications
"Labour law changes: Are Qatar's migrant workers better off?" 15 Mar 2021
In August 2020, Qatar announced landmark changes to the labour law, including scrapping the need for an NOC [no objection certificate]...
“The new amendments also include increasing the number of labour dispute resolution committees in an effort to tackle the number of labour disputes, facilitate workers’ access to the rights, and expedite legal proceedings,” a [Labour Ministry] statement said in August last year...
the majority of those interviewed by Al Jazeera experienced delays in the process as well as threats, harassment and exploitation by the sponsor, with some of the workers ending up in prison and eventually deported.
While some workers have withdrawn their transfer applications due to fear of being sent back home, others told Al Jazeera they had to go into hiding pending the outcome, scared of being arrested and deported...
Qatar’s labour ministry did not respond to Al Jazeera’s requests for comment but lawyers and activists working on some of these cases said the delays were because the authorities were overwhelmed by the high volume of transfer requests and complaints, and did not have enough resources to tackle them.
The online system was not able to handle the upsurge in requests and there was not enough consultation and conversation with businesses to allay their fears... Most workers don’t have the knowledge or support system to stand up to powerful employers and challenge these false charges. All of this serves to harass workers and discourage others from changing jobs.Vani Saraswathi, director of projects at Migrant-Rights.Org