Bruise of Qatar

 In 2010 the FIFA World Cup 2022 was awarded to Qatar. In Qatar there are more than 2 million migrant workers, many of them coming from Nepal and India. Construction workers, domestic workers, drivers, hotel staff, fishermen, … Majority of them have been working in slavery-like conditions and housing in squalid, overcrowded labour camps. Until 2020, under the Kafala system, migrant workers were subject to their sponsor’s approval to go back home or to change jobs, which led to many abuses.

For many years the international labour movement has been campaigning against these practices.

In 2017 an agreement was reached in the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

The State of Qatar agreed to put in place labour reforms to better protect the migrant workers.

GEFONT Nepal, NDWM India, WSM and ACV-CSC BIE are glad to present to you ‘Injury Time – Stories of Migrant Workers in Qatar’. This video documentary, directed by Hom Karki for Katha Nepal, a Nepal based production house which has previously produced the documentary ‘Bruise of Qatar’, tells you the stories of Nepali and Indian workers, looking for a better life beyond the border. 

Qatar introduces historic reforms to its labour market

In a historic move, the State of Qatar has introduced major changes to its labour market, ending the requirement for migrant workers to obtain their employer’s permission to change jobs, while also becoming the first country in the region to adopt a non-discriminatory minimum wage. 

This new law, coupled with the removal of exit permit requirements earlier in the year, effectively dismantles the controversial “kafala” sponsorship system and marks the beginning of a new era for workers and employers in Qatar. This is an issue WSM partners have been working on for a long time, so definitely a big step forward!

Find out more here. 

Recruitment Advisor: Advice for Migrant workers

Recruitment  Advisor  is  a global  recruitment  and employment review  platform  offering easy access to  information  about recruitment agencies and workers' rights when looking for a job abroad.
Recruitment Advisor is developed  by the International Trade  Union Confederation together with  its affiliates and partners national trade union centres from  Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal and the Philippines that also act as coordination teams.

Working with trade  unions  and  migrant  rights organisations  in each country, the  teams  reach out to  people  to  raise awareness of workers' rights and fair recruitment based on the  national legislations and the  I  LO General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment and  encourage people  to  share and  learn about  recruitment experiences through Recruitment Advisor.

The best advisors are other workers with experience.
1. Check  the rating of recruitment agencies based on worker reviews.
2. Check  your rights where you will work .
3. Ask for assistance when your rights have been violated.

While expecting the birth of the platform early next year, here is an update from Nepal. The  team   in  Nepal  have done  several  outreach  activities  to  the  migrant workers  to  promote  Recruitment  Advisor  and to  collect  reviews  not  only  in Nepal  but  in  some countries  of destination  like  Qatar,  Malaysia,  and Kuwait. Beside that, the team  has also familiarized different stakeholders with Recruitment Advisor  in  several  events such  as International  Migrant  Day and the role of Journalist organized by People Forum on 14th  December and at the meeting by National Network for Safe Migration, an umbrella organization of NGO's working on safe migration  issue in  Nepal.  On the  18th  Dec, GEFONT members has also participated in the main event of International  Migrant Day celebration, organized  by Government and civil society jointly.

Breakthrough to end kafala after new commitments from Qatar on workers’ rights

Qatar's system for migrant workers which meant they were practically the property of the employer (the so-called "Kafala" system) has been dismantled, improving rights for over two million migrant workers, many from India, Nepal but also Africa which are, among other tasks, building the football stadia for the 2022 World Cup. This came after after many years of pressure and organizing, by the WSM partners in India and Nepal (see here, also with support from ACV BIE), gathering testimonies (see publication here), by the International Trade Union Confederation ITUC (here) and from the ILO, where a complaint procedure had been initiated and a high level mission conducted, comprising Luc Cortebeek on behalf of the employees.

The new guidance and commitments made by the Government dismantle the system of kafala, which has trapped millions of migrant workers in Qatar. The six steps include:

1. Employment contracts will be lodged with a government authority to prevent contract substitution, ending the practice of workers arriving in the country only to have their contract torn up and replaced with a different job, often on a lower wage.
2. Employers will no longer be able to stop their employees from leaving the country.
3. A minimum wage will be prescribed as a base rate covering all workers, ending the race-based system of wages.
4. Identification papers will be issued directly by the State of Qatar, and workers will no longer rely on their employer to provide their ID card without which workers can be denied medical treatment.
5. Workers’ committees will be established in each workplace, with workers electing their own representatives.
6. A special disputes resolution committee with a time frame for dealing with grievances will be a centerpiece for ensuring rapid remedy of complaints.

"Our efforts are now also starting to bear fruit" says Andre Kiekens, General Secretary of World Solidarity. "We are particularly pleased that the ILO and the Qatari government have now signed a cooperation agreement for the period 2018-2020. This cooperation will ensure that the new legislation does not remain only on paper. Within this framework, an ILO office will be set up in Qatar that will specifically monitor the implementation of all these legislative changes and assist the government in strengthening their labor inspectorate on the construction sites" he adds. The International Trade Union Confederation also welcomed the breakthrough from the Government of Qatar to end the kafala system of modern slavery. “These initiatives have the support of the ITUC, and we hope that implementation will be also supported by the ILO with its technical expertise. Much remains to be done, but these steps open the way for workers to be treated with dignity and for their lives and livelihoods to be protected,” Sharan Burrow commented here.

Following this,  the ILO Governing Body decided to close the official complaint that was launched against the Government of Qatar, considering the various policy measures that were taken by the Government in the last few years (decision here).  The ILO and the Qatari Government have concluded a cooperation agreement, which gives a mandate to the ILO to monitor the Government’s efforts in the country to comply with the measures it has adopted. Let us hope that this will indeed prove meaningful for the nearly 2 million migrant workers in the country.

Avoiding death sentences for two Indian migrant workers in Qatar

C. Rajammal, wife of a migrant worker Chelladurai, urges the state
and central government to help them file
an appeal against the death sentence (Photo: DC)

Alagappa Subramaniam from Selathur Pudukottai district, and Chelladurai Perumal from Virudhunager District are two Tamil Indian migrant workers facing a death sentence  in Qatar, while Sivakumar Arasan from Salem District is facing a life sentence. These three illiterate migrant workers didn't receive any legal support to appeal against their sentence and NDWM findings indicate they were not given a chance to prove their innocence.

The Two Tamils were pronounced guilty on charges of murdering an elderly Qatari woman and were condemned to death by shooting. But then they were not given a chance to appeal against the sentence in a court where they don’t know the language or understand the judicial system. Since, the appeal court in Doha confirmed the death sentence of two; they just have till 31st of July left to appeal in Supreme court. Their fate came to light only when Adv. Suresh Kumar, Nagercoil visited these workers in Qatar to follow up the case and it has received a lot of media attention (links here, here, here, here, here and here).

NDWM kindly requests Chief Minister of Tamilnadu and the Union Government to support the families of the two Tamils who are poor and leading hand to mouth existence by providing legal assistance to the three Tamil men to appeal against the sentence. If timely legal assistance is not provided , then two lives of Tamils is lost by denying them the chance to counter the allegations of murder against them.  It is time the Government steps in to protect the rights of its citizens.

Due to the NDWM lobby with the Tamilnadu Government, they have announced they would release
9.5 lacks INR (around 12.700EUR) for the  legal assistance in Qatar for these victims.

New edition of W-Connect: positions, testimonies, practices on Labour Migration

Please click here to find the March 2016 edition of W-Connect, which is a first in two aspects. This newsletter has always had as a goal to share experiences between and from the WSM partners in Asia. 

For the first time, it centers around one topic: labour migration, which was prioritized as an important issue to advocate on by the WSM partners in Asia. This edition gathers political agendas, illustrations of where and when these are advocated for, as well as testimonies and practices.

It is also the first time the editorial oversight was given to two members from the Steering Committee, M Ganesh from Nepal and Miss Sulistri from Indonesia. This way of working will also be applied for the upcoming 2016 editions of W-Connect, with the next edition dedicated to decent living income and the last to access to health. Please enjoy reading our work and may it inspire and motivate you!

M Ganesh from Nepal and Miss Sulistri from Indonesia

Press release: MIGRANT WORKERS’ LIVES MATTER!

A press conference was held today in Kathmandu, with a press release in English and Nepali (see below), where 18 people attended, among whom Nepali journalists and one French photographer. First, a documentary entitled Bruise of Qatar was shown, then Jeroen Roskams from WSM introduced the purpose of the press conference and the context of this programme. Next, Bismo from WSM and coordinator of this project, launched a collection of testimonies. Two Nepali migrants testified during the conference regarding their working conditions in Qatar. Next, Khila Nath Dahal, president of NTUC, spoke about the importance of organizing migrant workers and the role of trade unions. Then M Bishnu Lamsal, General secretary of GEFONT, explained the recommendations and demands towards the Qatari and Nepali government. Last, Tom Deleu from ACV-CSC-BIE spoke about the international solidarity. Journalists were then given the opportunity to ask questions.

Six labour organizations from India and Nepal, of which three national trade union centers (GEFONT, NTUC, CFTUI), their affiliated construction federations (CUPPEC, CAWUN) and one domestic workers’ movement (NDWM), are gathering in Kathmandu on 28 and 29 February to discuss how they can jointly support migrant workers who are working in Qatar. Through a program that is hosted by the Belgian NGO WSM and the Belgian federation of construction workers ACV-CSC BIE, we are putting together our efforts in a joint action plan for the next five years (2017 – 2021) to strengthen the initiatives we are already taking in support of Indian and Nepali migrant workers. During the meeting, we discussed the different options for concrete action on which we can work together, going from campaigning and pre-departure training to giving legal assistance and organizing the migrant workers in Qatar as well as in the sending countries.

Since 2014 already we have been collaborating in a pilot project to map out how migrant workers in Qatar are organizing themselves through local support groups and how they are communicating between themselves and with the trade unions in the sending countries. One of the project’s goals was also to get a view on the actors that are involved in the migration process from Nepal/India to Qatar (recruitment agencies/agents, multinational companies, contractors and subcontractors, embassies, local and national governments...). Just now, our collaboration has also resulted in a collection of testimonies, which we present to the world today.

Around 1.200 migrant workers have died in Qatar since it was awarded the World Cup in December 2010 and it is projected 7.000 more will die by the time the championship takes place in 2022.

Qatar workers from India demand justice in Chennai - NDWM

National Domestic Workers Movement organised a press meet to seek justice for the affected “Qatar migrant” at the Chennai press club on 11 February 016 at 11.30 am. From October to December 2015, NDWM was in contact with 17 affected migrants, among whom 11 migrants decided to speak during the press meet. These affected migrant labourers were trafficked with false promises, violating the process of labour migration. These migrants sweated blood in extreme heat and cold with minimum food in Qatar, without basic infrastructure in the labour camp. Still, thousands of migrants work day and night to give a new look to the cities in Qatar and to prepare them for the World Cup 2022. Thousands of labourers have lost their life in Qatar and in coming years, migrants and their rights need to be protected. So to seek justice for these returned, affected Qatar migrants, as well as to spread awareness on the realities of migrant life in Qatar, NDWM organized this press meet.

The migrants were holding plea cards with the details of the agents and the employers.
Each one of them had the chance to speak to the media;
the migrants even had the photos of their employers and of some of the agents. 

MoU to assist Nepali migrant workers in Qatar

In a bid to protect the rights of Nepali migrant workers in Qatar, which numbers to over 450,000 workers in varied sectors, the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal and the National Human Rights Committee of Qatar signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and activation plan.

National Human Rights Commission Nepal Chair Anup Raj Sharma and National Human Rights Committee Qatar Chair Dr Ali Bin Al Marri signed this agreement to provide mutual assistance for the protection of migrant workers. The Nepalese delegation consisted of Mr Kamal Thapa Chettri and Ms Kalpana Jha as commission officers. Mr Laxman Basnet, SARTUC General Secretary, also accompanied the Nepalese delegation. SARTUC played a crucial role in bringing the two Human Rights Commissions together for facilitating the signing of this MoU. Solidarity Centre provided assistance for this accomplishment. Mr Laxman Basnet hailed the signing of MOU as a great step towards protecting Nepali migrant workers’ rights, and also stressed that such agreements shall be facilitated between NHRC Nepal and other countries of destination for Nepali migrant workers.

During the Qatar visit, SARTUC organised meetings and held discussions with Qatar-based Nepali organizations and groups regarding their conditions. The NHRC Nepal team and SARTUC General Secretary visited labour camps and the Nepalese Embassy in Qatar.

When a Nepali migrant worker comes home after the earthquake...

Watch this segment for Al Jazeera, about a Nepali worker, Suresh Kumal, who returned home to scenes of devastation and personal loss, made by a friend of ours, Subina Shrestha.

Even though the need is big to help with the rebuilding, he will still need to go back to pay the loan from the company.

A reality often overlooked in the aftermath of the earthquake, while at least two million Nepali are working abroad in the Gulf States. When I visited some villages, an old couple was clearing away the debris of their house. There were not enough young men left in the area to help....

The Independent headlined Nepal earthquake victims' families prevented from leaving Qatar Fifa World Cup building sites to attend funerals: Strict rules, known as kafala, mean that many of the 400,000 Nepalese employed in the country have their passports taken.

So, what can you do? Well, Avaaz has launched a petition to demand the abolshment of the Kafala system, which enslaves migrant workers. Sign it here. 

ILO newsletter on Nepal

The International Labour Organisation ILO/Nepal produces a newsletter Decent Work, with articles on many themes similar to the ones WSM works on in the region: informal economy, migrant labour, the wider workers' conference... 

Find the latest edition here.

Nepali migrant workers stage protest in Qatar

Finally, the protest regarding migrant workers is starting in Qatar. Previously, international attention of trade unions, NGO and media had started rising, but little public protesting happened in Qatar itself, where it is so hard to organize and forbidden to unionize for migrant workers. Article in eKantipur, shared by GEFONT:

About 600 Nepali migrant workers in Qatar have taken to the streets, demanding that their employer should pay them not less than the minimum salary set by the government for Nepalis working in Qatar.

The migrants, working at Qatar Freelance Trading and Contracting and Qatar Middle East Company, complained that they had been paid only QR600 as against the minimum monthly salary of QR900 set by the Nepal government.

They have stopped working in protest since Saturday, demanded that they be provided the set salary or sent back home with all facilities and perks due to. About 100 other foreign migrants have also joined in the protest.   

Labour attaché at the Nepali embassy in Qatar, Lilanath Dahal, who visited the workers’ quarters recently to inquire about their problems, said the workers had complained about them being denied the previously agreed salary. Qatari officials had also visited the quarters and enquired about the conditions.

Dahal said the employers lamented their inability to increase salary of the protesting workers. “We cannot increase salary of the workers at this time. Rather we are ready to repatriate them,” Dahal quoted managers of the companies as saying. (Original article in eKantipur here)

Sign the Watchdog petition addressed to FIFA here to speak out against the atrocious labor abuses and needless deaths of migrant workers in Qatar, and call on the World Cup organizers there to improve conditions and compensate the victims' families as they move the Cup location elsewhere!

Innovative project to track down missing Indian migrants through media

Got a moment to spare for the migrant workers in the Gulf states from India? Vote for a project proposal here which emerged as a result of people’s response to a successful current television programme called Pravasalokam broadcast by Kairali Channel in the south Indian state of Kerala.

Pravasalokam (‘Migrant’s World)’ started in August 2000. Produced by two independent television journalists, Rafeek Ravuther and Anasudhin Azeez, the programme was designed to help families, the majority of whom belongs to the underprivileged sections of society, to locate their missing relatives who had migrated from Kerala to various parts of the world, especially in the Gulf.


From the very first episode, the programme has become popular with Indian migrant workers and their families. The producers began to receive information about numerous cases and so tracked down 807 missing people in the Gulf (out of around 2000 Missing Cases) and provided legal, consular and travel assistance to them. The cases received by the producers’ illustrate the need for systematic intervention to assist migrant workers, especially from Kerala because of its high rate of migration, mostly of unskilled workers. At present, they have 187 pending cases and through this project, they propose to systematically follow up pending cases and provide assistance. This project was introduced by from CiMS Kerala (Centre for Indian Migrants Studies), a member of Migrant Forum Asia. Votes for the HIVOS Social Innovative Award can be cast here before the 23 November 2014.

Coca Cola pretending to provide happiness to Asian workers exploitated in the Gulf

This ad, a video made by Coca Cola which has now been taken off Youtube, which is deeply disturbing and weird. Read about it here.

In March, Coke installed five special phone booths in Dubai labor camps that accepted Coca-Cola bottle caps instead of coins. In exchange for the cap from a bottle of Coke—which costs about fifty-four cents—migrant workers could make a three-minute international call. The ad shows laborers in hard hats and reflective vests lining up to use the machine—and grinning, for the first time in the video, as they wait. “I’ve saved one more cap, so I can talk to my wife again tomorrow,” one man tells the camera. More than forty thousand people made calls using the machines and 134,484 minutes of calls were logged during the 10 hours a day they functioned from March 21 to April 21 in unspecified labour camps in Dubai.