DOHA: The government should declare an amnesty for illegal and runaway workers to give a chance to those who want to regularise their visa status, says a national.
The last amnesty was declared 13 years ago in 2002 and since then the population has more than trebled.
Khalid Al Suwaidi said an amnesty by the government would help substantially reduce the number of illegal and runaway workers. Most of these workers can be seen on the streets, in crowds, especially on weekdays and early in the mornings looking for free-lance work.
The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, in coordination with other state agencies, is doing good work and holding regular inspection campaigns to trace illegal workers.
“But the problem remains,” Al Suwaidi told the local Arabic daily Al Raya in remarks published yesterday.
He said the problem of illegal and runaway workers would end once the law making it mandatory for all workers to be paid through banking channels is enforced sooner rather than later.
Another Qatari citizen who gave his name as Adnan Al Amri said large groups of workers seen on the streets early in the mornings looking for freelance jobs are sponsored by companies that actually don’t have jobs for them.
Many of these workers are not skilled and claim to know their job (plumbing, electrician’s work, carpentry and painting, among others) well. The reality is that they don’t know the job.
“However, when you ask them, they tell you they know everything,” said Al Amri.
Another challenge is taking them home. “It is too risky since you can’t trust them,” said another citizen, Mubarak Al Buainain.
According to Al Amri, companies should provide such workers to those who need them on a free-lance basis.
Among these freelance workers who are a security threat to society are runaway workers and those who are on ‘free visas’.
They pay a lump sum to their sponsors on a monthly or annual basis.
“There are many workers who even don’t know their sponsors or the addresses of the companies that have brought them to Qatar,” said Al Buainain.
The Peninsula
