Students and officials during legal clinic roundtable.
DOHA: Law students of Qatar University (QU) and their counterparts from Kuwait University at a legal clinic recently discussed drafting of a model law to protect domestic workers.
The event was organised by the College of Law (LAWC) in conjunction with The Protection Project at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (JHU-SAIS). The purpose of the roundtable was to bring the two student groups together to discuss their involvement in legal clinics in their respective organisations on issues such as the protection of domestic workers and that of trafficked persons.
It also was an opportunity for law faculty, employers, NGOs and religious scholars to dialogue on drafting a model law on the rights of domestic workers, and to arrive at recommendations and an action plan to modify the model law.
LAWC Dean Dr Hassan Okour, explained that the meeting was a sequel to a series of events held in Qatar and Kuwait. “Its discussions will feed materials for legal clinics to help victims of all forms of violence, and provide proposals for the formulation of a substantive law to protect domestic workers,” he said.
The Protection Project Executive Director and senior research professor of International law Dr Mohamed Mattar said that the issue of domestic workers suffers from a lack of statistics and information with the exception of Qatar and Kuwait. By contrast, he referred to a recent study that found 600,000 cases of human trafficking in the Arab world.
The legal clinics at each university is run by the students with supervision from law faculty and in consultation with organizations involved in social and legal issues facing vulnerable members of the society. The students work together to provide legal advice, as part of their contribution to the community.
LAWC students Mohamed Saleh and Aisha Al-Emadi said: “We participated in the discussions at Kuwait University in June 2013 to draft a law to protect domestic workers, and on return to Qatar, we supplemented the project with visits and interviews with several NGO agencies, human rights and humanitarian organizations to collect as much information that would help in drafting the law. We will continue to participate in similar approaches to achieve the best results for our research”.
In the roundtable session, the students discussed the issue of fatwas from religious scholars on the rights of domestic workers according to Islam. They also gave feedback on interviews they held with NGOs who assist and provide services to domestic workers; representatives of corporations that employ them; and employment agencies responsible for recruiting them.
Religious experts also shared their perspective on the fatwas and how Islam determines the treatment of domestic workers. The NGO session discussed the type of services provided to domestic workers, number and nationality of domestic workers who were rendered assistance, types of cases, examples of cases, and difficulties NGOs face in their work. Employers presented information on the number and nationality of domestic workers employed by their corporations; type of services that domestic workers provide; labour regulations for employees vs those for domestic workers; and rights and responsibilities of domestic workers vs those of corporations.
The final session included a review of the students’ Fall 2013 findings followed by drawing up of recommendations on the model law, incorporating insights of the three groups.
Representatives from QU and Kuwait University law professors, legal, religious and social affairs experts from the Qatar Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics, Qatar Ministry of Endowment, Qatar Charity, National Committee for Human Rights, and Qatar Foundation for Protection and Social Rehabilitation; corporate leaders from Altawqeet for Commerce and Services, Doha, and Eyas for Higher and Technical Education Company, Kuwait; and a member of the Indian diaspora in Doha also participated in the discussions.
The Peninsula
