DOHA: Qatar’s human rights watchdog plans to set up a centre devoted to migrant workers from major manpower exporting countries.
The idea is to not only receive complaints about problems in workplace and address them but also to interact with workers at a meaningful level.
“Basically, we would like to know the issues facing these workers and raise awareness about their rights,” the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) said.
Hala Al Ali, legal expert from NHRC, told a workshop of Nepali community representatives on Wednesday that one of the key steps the government was taking was to increase the number of labour inspectors.
Inspectors from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs mount routine and surprise checks on companies and labour camps to ensure workers’ rights are not violated by employers.
Al Ali said the exploitation of migrant workers actually began from their countries right from the time they were short-listed for employment in Qatar.
“We are thinking of ways to stop this exploitation at source. An effective way to do this is to raise adequate awareness among workers before they are recruited.”
The workshop was one of a series NHRC regularly conducts as part of its ongoing campaign to raise awareness among workers about their rights and duties.
NHRC receives a large number of worker complaints, aside from looking into issues concerning the basic rights of other segments of population.
Qatar has large numbers of workers from India, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan, among others, and a majority are in low-income jobs.
Al Ali said the aim of the workshop is to train community representatives about the rights and obligations of workers as enshrined in Qatar’s labour law. These representatives, or community elders, in turn, raise awareness in their communities.
Al Ali said NHRC distributes pamphlets and booklets on the rights of workers. Aside from Arabic and English, the printed materials are in languages spoken in major manpower countries, including India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Indonesia. “The materials are distributed locally and abroad. We have so far distributed thousands of pamphlets and booklets.”
They cover almost all issues relevant to migrant workers such as provisions in the labour law for about wages, annual leave, leave salary, and where to complain about problems with sponsors and in workplace. Also featured are details about work-related accidents and injuries and sponsorship rules. The Peninsula
