By Fazeena Saleem
DOHA: Geneva-based Building and Wood Workers’ International says that Qatar has to do more to remove the sponsorship and exit permit system.
Representatives of the global federation of democratic and free trade unions in the construction, building materials, wood, forestry and allied industries, visited Doha and held several meetings with Qatar National Human Rights Committee, Qatar Foundation and officials of several South Asian embassies in Doha.
They also met some construction workers by visiting their work sites and labour camps.
“National Human Rights Committee said that things are moving in the right direction. However, we think more has to be done with the sponsorship and exit permits system,” Rajeev Sharma, Regional Policy Officer for Asia Pacific, Building and Wood Workers’ International, told this newspaper, hours before leaving Qatar yesterday.
He also said that many workers in Qatar face problems also due to negligence of their origin countries. “We met with officials of the Nepal, Indian and Bangladesh embassies as well as many workers here. There are also short comings in their origin countries,” said Sharma.
Building and Wood Workers’ International works closely with the International Trade Union Confederation and the other global union federations, and has a Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Committee of the United Nations.
Representatives of both organisations were in Doha December last year during the COP-18 conference and that they had discussed ways to help labourers in Doha to form trade unions with the Labour Minister and will start working on it.
According to Sharma, their colleagues from the International Trade Union Confederation will be visiting Doha in October for further discussions. Asked if they take permission from the Qatari authorities prior to their visits Sharma said that “every one is informed” whenever they come to Doha.
The Peninsula
