DOHA: Qatar defended its labour law reforms on Monday after coming under attack from a human rights group that said the changes won’t end the abuse and exploitation faced by migrant workers in the country – and may even make it worse.
The Qatari government said a new law coming into effect on Tuesday will replace the controversial “kafala” or sponsorship system that forces foreign workers to seek their employer’s consent to change jobs or leave the country.
Rights groups say the kafala system has forced workers to live in squalor and toil under dangerous, sometimes fatal, conditions which amount to modern-day slavery.
Qatar is spending billions of dollars on infrastructure related to hosting the World Cup in 2022 and has imported hundreds of thousands of construction workers from countries such as India, Nepal and Bangladesh for building projects.
An Amnesty International report said the reforms won’t lead to significant changes on the ground and workers will continue to need their employer’s permission to change jobs and require exit permits to leave the oil-rich Gulf state.
“This new law may get rid of the word ‘sponsorship’ but it leaves the same basic system intact,” James Lynch, deputy director for global issues at Amnesty International, said in a statement.
“FIFA, its sponsors and foreign governments seeking business ties with Qatar cannot and must not use this reform to claim that the problem of migrant labour abuse has been solved.”
