Qatar ‘sacked’ labourer for speaking to UN

Doha : A Nepalese construction worker in Qatar was “sacked” the day after speaking to a UN delegation visiting the 2022 World Cup host country to examine labour conditions, sources told AFP.

The incident is considered serious enough that the UN’s International Labour Organisation (ILO) said it would be on the agenda when its governing body meets in two months to discuss an investigation into allegations of forced labour by Qatar. 

“The ILO has been following closely this case and continues to do so with a view to ensuring that the rights of this Nepalese worker are fully respected and protected,” Corinne Vargha, director of the ILO’s international labour standards department, told AFP in a statement.

The case was raised in a previous meeting of the ILO governing body in March 2017, Vargha said, in the context of a complaint against Doha for non-compliance with two ratified ILO international conventions -- namely the Forced Labour Convention and the Labour Inspection Convention.

“The complaint will be further discussed by the Governing Body at its November 2017 session,” she added. That meeting could see the ILO launch a formal investigation into Qatar over its treatment of migrant workers.

The construction worker’s plight has also been confirmed by two separate unions.

The incident occurred in March 2016, but could only now be reported because of sensitivities surrounding the case. It happened when a six-strong team from the ILO visited a Qatar labour camp.

As well as losing his job after telling the UN body about unpaid wages and employers illegally holding his passport, the labourer was also handed a one-way ticket home to Nepal by bosses, unions said.

Officials at the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) say the timing of the dismissal “indicates it was a retaliatory act by his employer”.

“This is a violation under international labour standards and contradicts the commitments Qatar has repeatedly made before the ILO,” said ITUC head Sharan Burrow.

The union said the 29-year-old worker never left Qatar, but was subsequently jailed for two weeks due to losing his work sponsor and faced a fine of 4,600 Qatari riyals ($1,240).

Under the “kafala” system, the prevailing law at the time of the incident, all foreign workers in Qatar required a local sponsor in order to work and maintain residency.

Migrant workers’ expert Nicholas McGeehan said the case demonstrated there remained real problems in Qatar’s treatment of labourers.

“The reality is that Qatar’s reforms have been cosmetic and aimed not at improving the situation but rather at presenting a sense of progress.”