Qatar 2022 World Cup Organisers Draft More Labour Inspectors to Check Workers Abuse

As there is upsurge in the number of foreign workers in Qatar due to
the mega development projects being embarked upon by the 2022 FIFA
World Cup Supreme Committee, the country's Ministry of Labour and
Social Affairs is gearing up to launch massive crackdowns on private
companies that breach the labour law and abuse workers' rights.
The ministry said yesterday it was recruiting an increasing number of
inspectors to mount raids and checks on companies to make sure they
comply with the labour law.
"Contracting companies are particularly under scrutiny as they are
large employers of foreign workforce, and most worker complaints are
lodged against them. The ministry is also hiring more language
interpreters so workers' woes can be redressed by the Labour
Department and its branches efficiently," observed a statement from
the ministry yesterday.
Qatar's Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, H E Abdullah Saleh Al
Khulaifi said yesterday at a function at the Qatar University of which
he is president of its council that he will not hesitate to take
action to protect the right of expatriate workers in the country.
"We will not hesitate to take necessary action to protect the rights
of expatriate workforce," the Minister told reporters.
"Apart from the fact that the Labour Department and its branch offices
are adding more staff to deal with the growing numbers of foreign
workers who are coming over to engage in development projects being
launched for the 2022 World Cup, we are also hiring additional
translators so they could interpret complaints of workers of different
nationalities," he said.
A British newspaper had last week did extensive report on what it
termed abuse of migrant workers in Qatar due to the type of conditions
they are subjected to work.
It is in reaction to the report that the Qatar officials have swung
into action, taking every precautionary effort to ensure that
contractors handling the World Cup projects do not engage in the
misdemeanors as alleged by the newspaper
"The ministry takes the issues of labourers very seriously. The
inspection of contracting companies is going on to check how they are
dealing with their workers. Companies are under scrutiny to make them
comply with the provisions of the labour law regarding health, safety,
accommodation and salaries, among others.
"The labour law is comprehensive and should be implemented 100 per
cent and it is a minimum requirement to protect the rights of
workers," said the Minister who headed the committee that framed
Qatar's Constitution a decade ago.
"The ministry is always keen to resolve conflicts of labourers with
their employers amicably, therefore several branch offices of the
Labour Department have been set up all over the country, especially in
areas with concentration of single workers such as the Industrial
Area," he added.
He however noted that in areas where the Labour Department and its
branch offices are unable to settle workers' disputes with their
employers, "the cases are immediately referred to the court,"
concludes the Minister.