Human rights in Qatar
The state of human rights in Qatar is a concern for several non-governmental organisations, such as Human Rights Watch, which reported in 2012 that hundreds of thousands of mostly South Asian migrant workers in construction in Qatar risk serious exploitation and abuse, sometimes amounting to forced labour. Awareness grew internationally after Qatar's selection to stage the 2022 World Cup, and some reforms have since taken place, including two sweeping changes in 2020.
Domestic servants, who are often poor women from South-east Asian countries, have few rights, and can become victims of human trafficking, sometimes forced into prostitution. There are restrictions on individual rights such as freedom of expression, and sodomy laws exist to punish offenders, both male and female.[1][2] Qatar's legal system is a mixture of civil law and Islamic law. Flogging is enforced as a punishment, and capital punishment, although rare in recent times, was enforced in 2020 for the first time in 17 years.
The National Human Rights Committee was established in 2002 to investigate abuses.
Legal system and punishment
Sharia is a main source of Qatari legislation according to Qatar's constitution.[3][4] Sharia is applied to laws pertaining to family law, inheritance, and several criminal acts (including adultery, robbery and murder). In some cases in Sharia-based family courts, a woman's testimony is worth half a man's and in some cases a female and male testimony is not accepted at all if the witness is not deemed reliable.[5] Codified family law was introduced in 2006. In practice, Qatar's legal system is a mixture of civil law and Islamic law.[6][7]
The Qatar delegation to the UNHCR claimed that flogging sentences are not given in Qatar,[8] though Amnesty International reports unnamed "foreign nationals" being given flogging sentences as a punishment for alcohol consumption or illicit sexual relations.[9][10]The US Department of State reported that in 2019 there were 375 cases of flogging as a punishment. [11] In April 2013, a Muslim expatriate was sentenced to 40 lashes for alcohol consumption.[12][13][14] In June 2014, a Muslim expatriate was sentenced to 40 lashes for consuming alcohol and driving under the influence.[15] Judicial corporal punishment is common in Qatar due to the Hanbali interpretation of Sharia.[citation needed]
Stoning is no longer a legal punishment in Qatar, and has never been used.[8][16][17] Apostasy is a crime punishable by the death penalty in Qatar.[18] Blasphemy is punishable by up to seven years in prison and proselytizing any religion other than Islam can be punished by up to 10 years in prison.[18] Homosexuality is a crime punishable in sharia by the death penalty for Muslims, though in Qatar the penalty for consenting males is up to 5 years in prison.[19]
Alcohol consumption is partially legal in Qatar; some five-star luxury hotels are allowed to sell alcohol to their non-Muslim customers.[20][21] Muslims are not allowed to consume alcohol in Qatar, and Muslims caught consuming alcohol are liable to flogging or deportation. Non-Muslim expatriates can obtain a permit to purchase alcohol for personal consumption. The Qatar Distribution Company (a subsidiary of Qatar Airways) is permitted to import alcohol and pork; it operates the one and only liquor store in the country, which also sells pork to holders of liquor licences.[22] Qatari officials have also indicated a willingness to allow alcohol in "fan zones" at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[23]
Up until December 2011, restaurants on the Pearl-Qatar (a man-made island near Doha) were allowed to serve alcoholic drinks,[20][21] but they were then told to stop selling alcohol.[20][24] No explanation was given for the ban.[20][21] Speculation about the reason includes the government's desire to project a more pious image in advance of the country's first election of a royal advisory body, and rumours of a financial dispute between the government and the resort's developers.[24]
In 2014, Qatar launched a modesty campaign to remind tourists of the modest dress code.[25] Female tourists are advised not to wear leggings, miniskirts, sleeveless dresses and short or tight clothing in public. Men are advised against wearing only shorts and singlets.[26]
As of 2014, certain provisions of the Qatari Criminal Code allows punishments such as flogging and stoning to be imposed as criminal sanctions. The UN Committee Against Torture found that these practices constituted a breach of the obligations imposed by the UN Convention Against Torture.[27][28] Qatar retains the death penalty, mainly for threats against national security.
Labour
Slavery
Migrant construction workers from South Asia in the West Bay area of Doha.
Further information: Modern slavery
According to the US State Department, expatriate workers from nations throughout Asia and parts of Africa are routinely subjected to forced labour and, in some instances, prostitution. Most of these people voluntarily migrate to Qatar as low-skilled labourers or domestic servants, but are subsequently subjected to conditions indicative of involuntary servitude. Some of the more common labour rights violations include beatings, withholding of payment, charging workers for benefits which are nominally the responsibility of the amir, severe restrictions on freedom of movement (such as the confiscation of passports, travel documents, or exit permits), arbitrary detention, threats of legal action, and sexual assault. Many migrant workers arriving for work in Qatar have paid exorbitant fees to recruiters in their home countries – a practice that makes workers highly vulnerable to forced labour once in Qatar.[29]
A 2012 report by Human Rights Watch concluded that hundreds of thousands of mostly South Asian migrant workers in construction in Qatar risk serious exploitation and abuse, sometimes amounting to forced labour.[30] In 2020, Human rights Watch drafted out a report that claimed the nation’s initiatives in labor market by allowing migrant workers to change job without employer permission and setting a higher and non-discriminatory minimum wage. Also the report included data regarding enforcement of rudimentary midday summer working hours ban.[31]
Like other Persian Gulf nations, Qatar has sponsorship laws, which have been widely criticised as "modern-day slavery."[32] Under the provisions of Qatar's sponsorship law, sponsors have the unilateral power to cancel workers' residency permits, deny workers' ability to change employers, report a worker as "absconded" to police authorities, and deny permission to leave the country. As a result, sponsors may restrict workers' movements and workers may be afraid to report abuses or claim their rights, which contribute to their forced labour situation.[29]
Domestic servants are particularly vulnerable to trafficking since they are isolated inside homes[29] and are not covered under the provisions of the labour law, but some reforms introduced in September 2020 extend to all workers, including those for ending employment contracts and changing jobs.[33] Qatar is also a destination for women who migrate for legitimate purposes and subsequently become involved in prostitution, but the extent to which these women are subjected to forced prostitution is unknown. Some of these victims may be runaway domestic workers who have fallen prey to forced prostitution by individuals who exploit their illegal status.[29]
The Government states that it is doing a good job with regards to human rights[34] and treatment of labourers. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was established in 2002 to safeguard and consolidate human rights for everyone subject to the jurisdiction under the state.[35] In a bid to combat Human trafficking, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missned established the Qatar Foundation on Combating Human Trafficking (QFCHT). To promote more awareness in this area, the Ritz-Carlton Doha, created the World's largest Cake for the QFCHT Sculpture.[36]
Barwa Al Baraha at night.
Qatari contracting agency Barwa is building a residential area for labourers known as Barwa Al Baraha (also called Workers City). The project was launched after a recent scandal in Dubai's Labor camps, and aims to provide a reasonable standard of living as defined by the new Human Rights Legislation.[37] The overall cost of the project is estimated at around $1.1 billion and will be an integrated city in the Industrial area of Doha. Along with 4.25 square metres of living space per person, the residential project will provide recreational areas and services for labourers. Phase one of the project is set to be completed at the end of 2008 while all phases will be complete by mid 2010.[38]
Qatar Airways, the country's national airline, has long been criticised for its treatment of its lower level employees including flight attendants. Abuses include firing employees without apparent reason, low wages, overworking hours. Employees have been reported to be unlawfully detained by the airline without charge. Deportations by the airline of its employees to their home countries without reason have been reported.[39]
In 2019, a Qatari diplomat working as a medical attaché since 2007 at the Qatar embassy in London was accused of racially discriminating against pensioner working at the embassy and treating him like his "personal slave". The diplomat, Abdullah Al Ansari, accepted that Mohamoud Ahmed, the pensioner, would perform tasks such as fetching Al Ansari's shopping, dropping off his dry cleaning and picking up his children from school during the week.[40]
In 2021 the Foreign Ministry issued guidance for citizens travelling abroad with servants, nannies or drivers.[41]
FIFA World Cup preparations and reported abuses
The construction boom in Qatar began well in advance of Qatar winning the hosting rights to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. When the Emir Sheikh Hamad Al Thani took control of Qatar from his father in 1995 he opened Qatar up to foreign investment. He began the construction of the world's biggest LNG terminals in Ras Laffan with the granting of concessions to ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and Total S.A. Over 100,000 workers were brought into the country to build Ras Laffan. An estimated 1 million workers, with Qatar's total population being 2 million, are currently living in Qatar helping to build the country. In 1995, when Sheikh Hamad took control, the total migrant population was around 370,000.[42]
In 2013, Amnesty International published reports showing that unpaid migrant workers were left to go hungry. According to the report, workers are being "treated like cattle."[43] According to a report by the Guardian, based on documents obtained at the Nepalese embassy in Qatar, dozens of Nepalese migrant labourers had died in Qatar within the span of a few weeks around September 2013, and thousands more were enduring appalling labour abuses.[44] According to their analysis, current construction practices will have resulted in over 4,000 deaths by the time of the 2022 event.[44] This figure is denied by the Qatari authorities, who argue that it is misleading since it includes all causes of death in a population of close to one million and over an eight-year period.[45] As of December 2013, FIFA has investigated but taken no action to force Qatar to improve worker conditions.[43]
British law firm DLA Piper was instructed in 2012 by Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, President of Qatar Foundation, to undertake a review of migrant worker conditions. Following the recommendations made, Qatar Foundation created the Migrant Workers Welfare Charter, which applies minimum requirements with respect to the recruitment, living and working conditions, as well as the general treatment of workers engaged in construction and other projects. The mandatory standards will be incorporated into agreements between Qatar Foundation and all its contractors, who are required to comply with the requirements and rules. Contractors and sub-contractors found to be violating the regulations have been blacklisted from future tenders.[46]
The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, the 2022 World Cup organising committee, followed this measure in mid-2014 with its own regulations and blacklisted a number of companies. A BBC reporting crew was jailed for two days without charge, after attempting to meet migrant workers.[47]
In August 2015, the Ministry of Labour announced that all companies in Qatar would be required to pay their employees by electronic transfers. The rule is aimed at contractors who withhold salaries or make late payments.[48]
The Department for Human Rights at the Ministry of Labour, and the National Committee for Human Rights are responsible for the monitoring of abuses in Qatar.
In January 2022, the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) launched "Together We Work" campaign to spread the awareness about knowledge of workers' rights and duties. The campaign highlighted legal amendments in Qatar legislation which affirmed the protection of workers' rights.[49]
On 16 March 2022, FIFA and the Ministry of Labour met in order to discuss the reforms taking place in Qatar's labour market. According to the latest report drafted by ESPN, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said, “I am pleased to see the strong commitment from the Qatari authorities to ensure the reforms are fully implemented across labor market”.
Impact of the World Cup
Qatar becoming the destination for the 2022 World Cup escalated the issue of human rights for migrant workers.[50] Between 500,000 and 1.5 million migrant workers were employed to build the stadium. About 1,200 migrants died during the project between 2010 and 2013.[50] The Qatar government did not take ownership of these deaths.[50] Migrant workers involved in the world cup were forced into labor, some human trafficked, and kept against their will.[50] Conditions of labor and number of wages was exaggerated to attract laborers; this requirement practice was not regulated by any organization.[51]
Contractors advertise the work and rates.Qatar uses the kafala system.[51] This system gives the network (in this case the contractor) the power to decide the treatment of the migrant workers and how they operate.[51] The government does not get involved in the treatment.[51] Workers were given dirty living conditions with 12 to one room and were often left with no food or pay.[52] FIFA has changed executive members and added more people to their committee because of what has happened in Qatar.[53]
Amid constant human rights criticisms, Qatar introduced migrant reforms that are applied to workers of all sections, including domestic workers, regardless of their nationality. These new reforms came into effect from March 2021. In August 2020 Qatar abolished the Kafala system and introduced labor reforms. Under these reforms workers can change jobs without employer’s permission and are now paid a basic minimum wage regardless of their nationality. The basic minimum wage is set at 1,000 QAR. Allowances for food and accommodation must be provided by employers, which are 300 QAR and 500 QAR respectively.[54]
Qatar introduced a wage protection system to ensure the employers are complying with the reforms. The wage protection system monitors the workers in the private sector. This new system has reduced wage abuses and disputes among migrant labours.[55]
According to Amnesty international, in two different investigations on the working conditions of migrant workers, it was found that 94% of workers in Qatar are foreign nationals. Journalists found their conditions far below human standards.[56] The workers were placed in poor communities, often without basic amenities such as running water, sewage or electricity.[57]
Immigrant labour and human trafficking
Qatar is a destination for men and women from South Asia and Southeast Asia who migrate willingly, but are subsequently trafficked into involuntary servitude as domestic workers and labourers, and, to a lesser extent, commercial sexual exploitation. The most common offence was forcing workers to accept worse contract terms than those under which they were recruited. Other offences include bonded labour, withholding of pay, restrictions on movement, arbitrary detention, and physical, mental, and sexual abuse.[58][59]
According to the "Trafficking in Persons" report by the U.S. State Department, men and women who are lured into Qatar by promises of high wages are often forced into underpaid labour. The report states that Qatari laws against forced labour are rarely enforced, and that labour laws often result in the detention of victims in deportation centers, pending the completion of legal proceedings. The report places Qatar at tier 3, as one of the countries that neither satisfies the minimum standards, nor demonstrates significant efforts to come into compliance.[58][60]
In a US State Department's report in 2021, Qatar government showcased an increase in its anti-trafficking capacity and was upgraded to a Tier-2 level nation. The strategies included reporting its first forced labour conviction under the anti-trafficking law, identifying victims and referring them to care at the new trafficking shelter.[61]
The government maintains that it is setting the benchmark when it comes to human rights and treatment of labourers.[62]
In common with other Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, employment sponsorship laws exist in Qatar. These laws have been widely described as akin to modern-day slavery.[63] The sponsorship system (kafeel or kafala) exists throughout the GCC, apart from Bahrain, and means that a worker (not a tourist) may not enter the country without having a kafeel. They cannot leave without the kafeel's permission. An exit permit must first be awarded by the sponsor, or kafeel. The sponsor has the right to ban the employee from entering Qatar within 2–5 years of his first departure. Various governmental sponsors have exercised their right to prevent employees from leaving the country, effectively holding them against their will for no good reason.[64]
Some individuals after resigning have not been issued with exit permits, denying them the right to leave the country. Many sponsors do not allow the transfer of one employee to another sponsor. This does not apply to special sponsorship of a Qatar Financial Center-sponsored worker, where it is encouraged and regulated that sponsorship should be uninhibited and assistance should be given to allow for such transfers of sponsorship.[65]
In May 2014, Ali bin Samikh al-Marri, Chairman of Qatar's National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), said that Doha had officially announced the end of the current sponsorship system, and had passed a new law replacing it with a new one in which contracts are signed between the workers and their employers. The exit permit was replaced with a new electronic system that will be managed by the Interior Ministry. The consequences of employers violating this system are subject to a fine of nearly $15,000.[66]
Two laws protecting workers' rights, which included clauses on maximum working hours and rights to annual leave, were passed in August 2017.[67] In November 2017, the United Nations' International Labour Organization (ILO) praised Qatar's commitment to workers rights protection.[68]
In 2018, Sheikh Tamim passed Law No. 13 of 2018, abolishing exit visas for roughly 95% of the country's migrant workers. The remaining 5% of workers, which amount to approximately 174,000 people, still require their employer's permission to exit the country. While stating that more needs to be done to protect the rights of Qatar's workers, Stephen Cockburn of Amnesty claimed that the Amir had taken an "important first step towards meeting the authorities' promise to fundamentally reform the exploitative sponsorship system".[69]
