Must-read letter to Gulf Times

Grayfox, you should start a new thread about your experience. If what you said is true, it is too important to have this kind of sick practice go unnoticed by the world.

Be warned that the hotel has a policy of not letting Chinese people on to their premises.

On Thursday evening at 8.30pm i valet parked my car, and proceeded to the hotel security gate along with my wife and a friend of ours. We were intending to use one of the resturants after meeting some friends in the hotel. But once through the gate i was stopped and told in uncertain terms that No chinese were allowed in the hotel. When i asked why its hotel policy, so i said whats wrong with my wife and our friend, i then asked to prove that i was married to my wife. i said you are insulting my family in public. Then i asked for the manager and was told he is not available.

I e-mailed the Sheraton the next morning Friday 31st October,and as such have had no reply of acknowledgement of my e-mail to date.

I thought racial discrimination was illegal in Qatar, may the Sheraton has different songbook.

Disgusted with the Sheraton

Reality is not always a charm pendant.

The Red Pope of Qatar Living

Abba, Abba, Padre!

hi...wat is NOC? i am not planning to go to any other country for work or other reasons...rite now its my health that is my priority..

can u pls tell me wat manouvering with the company u talking about

You can very well get exit permit with some manouvering with ur company.

Humanbeing: This is one more example of slavery. You cannot leave inspite the employee's non interest in working. Reaz might get exit permit but no NOC.. and that will bar him from entring this country for next 2 years. There is one more problem that he would face and that is if he is immigrating or going to some other country outside middle east - he will mention that he is not allowed to enter Qatar for ..x.. number of years. Having clicked YES for the above option.. which nation would like to allow people like him/her to enter..

..**.. ""They walk among us. They vote & they even reproduce"" ..**..

hi

i am being kind of treated unhumanly also...see my post "I badly need help"...I am sick and my condition is not improving, instead my health is deteriorating...I gave my resignation letter on 11 Oct for my last working day to be 31 Oct...But my employer is refusing to let me go back home...

I am gona tell them tomorrow that I am going back home on the 1 Nov as i have got the right to resign and they can not force me to stay...I am just praying that they let me go peacefully and need your prayers also

I am totally with "HumanBeing" in whatever he has mentioned above.

How can a country bid for Olympics 2016 and how can you do a display of millions of dollar fireworks when your labor camps are full of human rights violation?!?

West can for sure play a positive role, if they are really genuine in their human rights efforts. Let’s not blame Islam for everything and let’s not blame US either for all our problems.

Problem is at home!

Let’s recognize that the problem is in our intention and hearts. We have HIV in our hearts!

None are Muslims – neither extremist nor such moderate who have arranged a multibillion dollar show on chornich and on the other hand kept themselves intentionally unaware of their labor camps. Are they really unaware!?! It would be a joke to even think this. But then they are really UNAWARE of the reality!

Would anyone ever ask how many local women performed in the show on Thursday?

What is really women rights status here? And how local women are treating their laborers, workers, and slaves?

Why we stop poor labors on Eid day from going to shopping malls and public places?

Why we still have exit permits in 21st century?

And then why Olympics should be brought here?

Free your slaves, citizens, and guest works and the World we give you the OLYMPICS –

But then who cares about the Olympics if we are so mature? All we have to do - is to provide a green patch for our children to play. All children – no classes – no colors – no races.

Today’s majority human practices have nothing to do with any religion.

We have a problem as a society. I am not worried about others. Let’s recognize and fix it among ourselves for our own children for our own future. Let’s take one step, so that they can move to the next.

Let’s not spend billions again on another fake game show. Let’s get recognized as human rights champions, if you really want respect, prestige and power forever.

But then history dictates it will never happen!

We will not wake up.

We will continue looking into the wrong direction waiting for someone else to come and do the real job.

That’s bring frustration in the society who can not do much or does not have the capacity to think much or does not have much to lose.

Good Luck. God bless those who are the victim of our psychological complexes and greed.

May we stay save with kind hearts.

the issue at hand is the mistreatment of the laborers by their employees .. bringing in contexts involving religion or the employers being Qatari and mean etc is not justified in any way ..

for one you have to know that these laborers are brought into the country and work for companies and organizations through a labor supply company .. they are the ones responsible for providing food water and shelter for the laborers .. these labor supply companies are run by mostly Asians .. meaning : Indians Pakistanis Bangladeshis Sri Lankans etc etc .. they are the ones ill- treating and denying the laborers adequate facilities ..

i know for a fact that these companies sign contracts with the major companies requiring labor supply of some sort and they charge high amounts per person whereas they pay them less than they can survive on .. for example .. a person who has to clean the grounds of the company get paid somethin around 700-900 rials per month whereas the labor supply company would have charged the company 2000-3000 rials per person for this job .. this is just an extreme example .. and its a reality .. the extent to which these laborers are being exploited is unbelievable .. and at the end of the day they come back to inhuman living conditions and facilities .. its just sad

The problem is not the religion or the religions. No religion justifies or advocates the killing of people from other faith. It is the people who misinterpret and those who exploit the weakness in others by presenting them a totally opposite and different version of the religion than what it originally means

e.g. In Greece the Church is very powerful, the church asks people to donate 10% of its earnings to the church. In Greece the priests say that they dont want to hear the clinking of coins rather they want bills.

Who do you think about the pedophile priests. Does Bible tell them to do so?

Even in Islam the Mullahs have preached a great deal of hatred towards the West.

We have differentitae between right and wrong and in order to do so we need education which unfortunately is not taken seriously

Again sorry for putting the cat among the pigeons here and then legging it. Been proper busy of late.

Thanks for those who helped address my technical shortcomings by publishing the letter itself.

A gratuitous update: I emailed the Gulf Times to ask for my contact details to be passed onto Mr Jennings. So far I have not received a reply. I do hope this letter was genuine. It maybe that they have a policy of not passing around contact details of course but to not have had a reply from them at all does seem strange. I know some newspapers around the world do have a policy of creating readers’ letters themselves for the purposes of debate (and sometimes to justify content)…if anyone knows Mr Jennings please met me (or him) know because I’d love to be in touch with him.

Either way, it was an issue that is in dramatic need of attention and whoever is responsible for the letter deserves massive credit and thanks.

I do however feel it is worth pointing out that the maltreatment of workers is no more or less reprehensible because it is taking place in a Muslim country. Apart from those lunatic pro-free trade dogmatists and those without any sense of morality, it is surely hypocritical of anyone to participate in a situation which results in such suffering. Previous posters are right to bring attention to the fact that far worse abuses were the building blocks for many Western countries' affluence; my own more than any other. The fact that such counties were supposedly Christian is entirely irrelevant.

Though chilling, hypocrisy in any affair is purely a matter of personal conscience (although I suspect many of us with a sense of pride may also personally feel publicly-recognised hypocrisy is an unbearable stain on our reputations) and (with respect) whether a particular act is considered ‘Muslim’ or not is a matter for Muslims to discuss amongst themselves, not for the rest of us to decide for them.

The most important issue is that such treatment - as it was and is under other governments - is fundamentally, unacceptably and indefensibly wrong irrespective of whether your morality has a religious or secular basis. What’s more, it is entirely unnecessary, even from an orthodox capitalist perspective. With such a massive surplus of wealth in Qatar, you simply cannot defend the assertion that the poor treatment of workers is necessary to drive the economic growth of this country. Qatar and such states can afford to ensure decent wages, salaries and conditions for workers without making a noticeable dent in the wealth of the ruling class here or, perhaps more crucially, the profits that their multinational corporate partners take home with them.

The rights of migrant workers in the region seems sometimes to more closely resemble slaves than workers and the lifestyles of employers (and I don’t just mean Qataris) and associated middle classes seems more like that of an old-fashioned aristocracy in comparison. I was discussing with someone recently whether Qatar was (in Cold War terminology) a first or third world country. In reflection, it’s both.

In response to these issues, there are no unions, no political parties, no pressure groups and no coordinated consumer responses standing up for Qatar’s manifold destitute. There’s hardly even any reporting of the issue.

Back where I’m from, none of the rights that working people now hold were even given out as magnanimous acts of generosity by the ruling order. They were fought for, hard; sometimes by workers themselves, sometimes by the middle order on behalf of their poorer neighbours. If we were back home, I’d tell you that the victories won by the middle classes (ie by social democracy) were effectively backward steps because they kept power out of the hands of society’s poorest. But out here, when you’re confronted by reports of such terrible conditions for workers, it’s difficult to argue that we as the privileged in this country should just stand back and do nothing.

I hope writing letters does change something. From my knowledge of history, I think it would be a first.

Congratulations again to the Times for the exposure. I just hope it inspires genuine action.

And, again, apologies for the polemic.

Joe Williams

[email protected]

http://earsopen.blogspot.com/

Canary

Lets all pray for justice is dispersed and done with proper truth and fairness..

Alizafir

When you single out one President most of the people refer to the nationality automatically.

If Islam has nothing to do with AL-qaeida according to your statement, then Who is patronizing a Holy War against the western world in the name of Islam? In Saudi for example most of the hate is being publicly advertised in the Holy Mosques. Is one of the most hostile and anti-western countries in the world.

In my opinion

In every lawn there is always bad seed and weeds.

Proper teachings, moral and behavior starts at your home.

Religion is just guide lines of proper behavior, your conduct speaks for yourself on your assimilation of the guidelines.

Respectfully

Red_Pope

The Red Pope of Qatar Living

Abba, Abba, Padre!

Well said there don't mix religon with greedy money makers.

Please read my post again and again till you get the concept very clear !

ISLAM HAS NOTING TO DO WITH AL QEIDA OR OSAMA BIN LADEN ! SAME WAY AM SURE CHRISTIANS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GEORGE BUSH ... OSAMA AND GEROGE BOTH ARE CULPRITS IN THE EYE OF GOD ...

I cleary mentioned that ones mistake should not to be blamed on ANY RELIGION or SOCIETY unless untils a verdict is annouced by the Religious Authority, then only we can oppose or support.

So the concept is very clear that WHOEVER has done this crime should be punished ... I replied to Mr. Hoppo's post where he blamed directly on Muslims and Islam for this incident.

Why is it Islam is asscoiated with the atrocities inflicted on labourers, one thing you have to realise is that the manpower agencies are the ones to blame and they are the black sheep.

The Nepalese Embassy is well aware of this and have a programme running in Nepal to discourage labourers paying fees to come to Qatar and being stranded.

The Government here is trying to stop visas being sold to agencies who bring in labourers for who they have ho job or no serious employer.

The lack of food and water leads to disease and this is a point that the Mininstry of Health is loooking into just now and be sure there are quite a few sick.

What others can do, is if they hear or know of such agencies report them to the authorities, it is because of the manpower agencies attitude and the lack of proper information to the Nepalese labourers that this disaster came about.

Then check out th realities about the safe house and what happened there many discussion topics on QL are based on heresay and not true facts.

This is one of the most highly debated issues at present and the government is taking an active role in it be sure.

How do you value and implement Justice and Punishment under the pretext of religious guidelines?

The whole point is that those workers are the sole responsibility of the sponsor. If the sponsor fails to support them, it falls automatically on the State, in this case Qatar.

How could you bestow the Deaths of 600,000.00 Iraqis on one president?

Do not forget the atrocities of AL-QAIDA, Tribal Warfare among themselves and Foreign Fighters from the middle East, Including Iran arms with technical assistance.

If Islam is so perfect, Why are this atrocities of civil rights, human despair are continuing on and on?

Is it just words in the air, being spoken only?

In my opinion is to take positive actions, in favor of this people.

Bring the sponsor into a culminate punishment in form of fines, jail time or just disband his company.

Relocated and compensate the workers. Since I know for fact the government or private agency does not want to be enveloped with the issue, because is to offensive to their track record.

Lets not forget the Nepalese workers deportation incident and the safe house raid, sponsor by the government.

Is hard to forget the reality!

The Red Pope of Qatar Living

Abba, Abba, Padre!

Mr. Hippo ! Such indicents are not to be blamed to any religion or community ... every nation has good and bad people ...

Take a simple example of George W. Bush who killed more then 600,000/- Iraqis only in Iraq !!! Rest God knows how many in the other parts of the world?

I am sure Goverment of Qatar will take a serious action on such inhumane crime, whoever is involved should be punished.

For your information about Islam :-

Islam is a religion of Peace ... Islam establishes a clear system of worship, civil rights, laws of marriage and divorce, laws of inheritance, code of behavior, what not to drink, what to wear, and what not to wear, how to worship God, how to govern, the laws of war and peace, when to go to war, when to make peace, the law of economics, and the laws of buying and selling !!

Islam is a complete code of life.

So this incident of Workers should not to be blamed on religion or to the Government of Qatar. Some people has done this crime and they will have to pay for this, if not today then on the day of Judgment !

A previous reader commented on the lack of response from Muslim leaders with regards to treatment of workers, and human rights.

Let me preface by saying that I am not Qatari, but am a Muslim. I am not defending the lack of action of Qatari employers, or lack of outrage from Qatari citizens. But I can say with full confidence, and truthfullness that Qatari Imams and Islamic leaders have NOT been silent on this issue.

I have attended several Friday prayer sermons where the entire lecture was focused on human rights of the local laborer, worker conditions, and Islams rules on the treatment of such workers. Islam, and Qatari's Islamic leadership have been clear in their disapproval of current condition in my perspective. The problem is that human nature has shown that making money trumps religion time and time again througout history.

Dont think that Qataris are somehow born and bred to be callous slave drivers, and that West is the lone enlightened peoples, with values, and compassion that is somehow void in the Middle East. Look at the historys of these same great nations, cotton picking slaves in the US, and legislized 2nd class citizenship and civil rights abuses only 50 years ago. Britain and the rest of Europe virtually enslaved the entire world to prop up their economies. To this day the US continues to be built on the backs of illegal Mexican workers that the govt turns a blind eye to because they get paid trivial wages.

What Qatar is doing today is no different than the rest of the world, but it also does not make it acceptable. I just wanted to redirect the conversation away from problems with Islam, or a perception that this sort of behaviour has its roots within Islam. It does not, its all about $$$$

I see your point..I was just coming from a religious point of view. It is also the same in malaysia where muslims are not allowed to consume any food in public during the fasting hours. I guess they could do it discreetly, but if what you say about the labourers in Qatar is true, 'that they don't even have rights to decide whether or not they can fast', then it is sad.

Are you new to Qatar??? The reason I ask is in an ideal world, it’s not an obligation for labor workers to fast.....but your here in the Gulf where during daylight hours you cannot drink etc in public.... like seriously, how many labor workers did you see having access to water during Ramadan??

Do you really think they have such rights as to decide whether or not they can fast????

'Our freedom is but a light that breaks through from another world'

This bloody ********* mother ******** NHRC is a damn good joke. I advised one labourer to contact the NHRC and inform them about the living conditions at their camp. He did and you know what happened. He was sent to jail on some theft charges and then deported after one month. He never got to see the lawyer and the judge.

This is outrageous. The only law that prevails here is

MIGHT IS RIGHT

try to send the letter to the NHRC and you will find that email addresses provided on their lovely webpage

dont wirk at all... Try to find al-Attias personal email address and you wint get very far either !

Its easier to find the CEO's of Qata Airways mail address then anythin else.

Coincidence ?

The_Hippo, Hi there. In reply to your question.

The Prophet, PBUH said that a worker be paid his due before the sweat on his forehead dries. This is the Islamic view on the subject.

As far as muslims in Qatar are concerned, well I have not seen any. Going to a Mosque 5 times a day is not all that is required of a Muslim. A mUSLIM IS MUCH MORE THAN THAT. So please let me know if u ever come across a Muslim. i WOULD LOVE TO SEE ONE.

if you work in the industrial area you will hear truckloads of grievances from the so called "labour work force". so most of the people say, "WELCOME TO THE MIDDLE EAST". i thought this is only happening in kuwait, oman and saudi arabia...that's why i moved to DOHA QATAR...but it's just the same...i only have a simple message to all BUSINESS TYCOONS AND ENTREPRENEURS...

"DON'T HIRE PEOPLE IF YOU CAN'T PROVIDE WHAT YOU HAVE PROMISED, BETTER REDUCE YOUR MANPOWER IF YOU CAN'T PAY WAGES...

"IT ONLY HAPPENS IN THE MIDDLE EAST"

just have to live with it bro!

Al Attiyah cited one instance to point out that it was not always a sponsor who harassed a worker. He narrated a case where an Arab expatriate administrative officer in a company was harassing a colleague and when the latter lodged a complaint with the NHRC, its sponsor was contacted.

“He (the sponsor) was shocked to learn of the mistreatment and the fact that his own company had filed a court case against the worker without his knowledge. He withdrew the legislation and gave the worker a release," said Al Attiyah.

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&month=October2007&file=Local_News200710222518.xml

there are other groups of people who are not obligated to fast (pregnant women, children, old and sick people..etc. labourers are one of them. labourers who work in the hot sun during ramadan are not obligated to fast. they can if they choose to but they don't have to.this was what i learnt in religious classes.

These low lifes, good for nothing are asking for rights, then they will ask for freedom, then they will ask for citizenship, next they will buy our lands, than they will demand democracy, and then we would be screwed.

better not to give them any rights.

the_hippo you are right about Muslim leaders' silence but remember, you are luck in the west that you get to choose your own leaders and you can hold them accountable for whatever wrong they do. Unfortunately, we get leaders who have nothing to do with us and who directly come from heaven by some western nations' support to further their agenda in our countries, e.g., pervez musharraf the army dictator in Pakistan is a star child of US and Europe but not even 10% Pakistanis want him to rule. Yes our own lack of courage for standing up against them also helps them.

Everyone would have read about many of the camps where there has been unrest. Was there any ounishment meted out to any of the erring companies? I doubt. there was a settlement and after sometime the so-called ring leaders who were respnsible for bringing it to the

attention of the authorities were deported

the managers are well protected by their sponsors.

LAst week I had heard of a camp in Doha suburbs

populated mostly by indians and the company also run by Indians

where the workers had problem with regards to their wages and

food as well. Indian embassy had to intervene to solve at least part of

their problem.

During the time when they were low on food, one of the drivers of a Qatari living in that neighborhood used to collect whatever food was remaining in the surrounding Qatari houses and give it to these workers.

I dont want to name the exact location or company but this is a fact.

Which boat are you going to rock anyway?

Its only when the countries from where the labourers come take

a tough stand will any one open their eyes.

Otherwise these poor fellows will be mistreated.

And remember many of the companies are only sponsored by

the Qataris the actual majority who run them are expatriates like us

and they are the ones who treat the labourers even worse.

What I found disturbing during Ramadan was the poor workers who still worked 12 hours days, and couldn’t drink water during the day....as if they haven’t got it hard enough as it is. :(

'Our freedom is but a light that breaks through from another world'

if more people in Qatar sent a similar letter "and rocked the boat" it would eventually sink in.

Alexa .. enither do I...but at least it can start a sorta media debate over the subject. I think we can do something if we stop keeping silent. As the writer said : “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”. Let's do something people. I belive this is much more important than a gathering for drink and chat .

Some are Wise ... Some are ...Otherwise

And with all these laborers in need they gov't finds it neccessary to shut down the one safe house in town that was actually helping many of these (Nepalese) men. Even those men had to rely on handouts but at least it was organized and people knew where to go to drop stuff off.

according to islamic rule one is supposed to pay his worker before his sweat dries out.

For the labourers in construction sector it may take 3-4 months

hmmm..... wasn't that supposed to be the month to reflect on those who have less than you? How quickly they forget....

Hippo not many follow the quran and Hadith when it comes to making money for themselves. When it comes to others they will shout a lot saying it is unislamic.

Many a time Scholars in this country have spoken out against the bad treatment of workers during their weekly sermons.

Correct me if I am wrong, but aren't most Qataris supposed to be Muslims? (Having lived in this country for a couple of months now, I have seen quite a few mosques dotted around the place.) It would be very interesting to read a posting or two from Qataris (if any Qataris do indeed read QL) or from Muslims from any country on this subject. Doesn't the Quran explictly forbid the kind of exploitation and oppression of workers so roundly condemned in Mr Jennings' brave article?

I agree that the indifference of the Human Rights Committee is shocking, but the silence of Qatar's Muslim leaders is even more appaling. After all, it is happening in THEIR country, not ours. However, let us not forget someone who does deserve our support and respect: the Editor of "The Gulf Times", who took a bold step in allowing Mr Jennings' outspoken letter to appear in print.

Here you go.

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=179683&version=1&template_id=46&parent_id=26

Violation of human rights

Dear Sir,

This is in reference to the report, ‘Workers left without food, water in camp’ (Gulf Times, October 17).

To say that I was not enraged upon reading that article would be a gross understatement. We are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable and complacent.

Most of us have a built-in allergy to disturbing or unpleasant information. The sad plight of these workers, who help to make this country the prosperous nation that it is today, is a reality happening or that happened not more than 50km from where most of us live now.

I have long held the belief that it takes a dramatic example or display of evil for the good people in society to be shaken out of their apathy and indifference, and galvanise them into action.

I would like to pose these questions to your readers: Is this unfortunate reality of the workers, this blatant human rights violation not dramatic enough to galvanise us into the right course of action? Or are we just going to slip into decadence, escapism and insulation from such harsh realities of the world in which we live?

To quote Edmund Burke, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Is this inhumane treatment of the workers not dramatic an example for us to do anything about it? Or will it take an article with a headline like ‘1,000 workers die of lack of water, food, electricity in camp’? This is not the first ever happening of its kind, we have seen such articles, of a greater or lesser degree, crop up more often than not in this daily. We tolerate it because ‘It’s common, it’s trivial’. We embrace and nurture apathy as if it were a virtue.

I do hope that the individuals and companies responsible for such inhumane treatment of their workers be prosecuted and have their licences revoked. What I found particularly morally shocking was the indifference of the Human Rights Committee (HRC) to their cause in spite of the workers’ efforts to contact them on their hotline.

I would like to point out to the HRC my dictionary’s definition of a Hotline - direct telephone link to service: a telephone number that enables members of the public to make direct contact with a special service offering information, advice, or help, usually on a serious or urgent matter.

I kindly request you to publish the names of the companies that commit such flagrant violations for criticism has to be aimed at someone or something specific for it to matter and effect a change.

Malcolm M Jennings, (Address supplied)

Just copy the link to the newpaper article and paste it in your thread topic post. Just edit in normal way and paste the link.

I read the letter two times. It is really heart touching. Kudos to the person who send the letter to the Gulf Times and even allowed his name to be printed. I would really want to meet that guy.

Anyways whoever you are "Malcolm M Jennings" we need more people like you. Atleast there are people in this world who care for other human beings irrespective of the consequences.

I hope God Almighty also gives me the courage to speak out against the tyrants like you are doing. (Amen)

on computers...good luck!

Copy/paste the article/letter to Word Format or have that letter scanned and SAVE

Click on the file attachment and a box would open that says "attach new file"; click on the browse tab and open your saved file.

Dont forget to click on the "attach" tab...then you're ok with that...

Hope this helps :-P

I never found a companion that was so companionable as SOLITUDE.- Henry David Thoreau

Think your right. Not sure how to do it. Can anybody help? Computers make brain hurt.

Joe Williams

[email protected]

http://earsopen.blogspot.com/

least I don't see it!