Just take a real hard look at the situation there. Many of the labourers and semi-skilled workers were 'duped' into taking up work in Qatar. In most cases they will have paid large amounts of cash to recruitment 'agents' in order to secure their jobs, and the only way they can do this is by borrowing money from relatives and friends in their home countries.
The terms of the contracts they were recruited under are changed according to the will and wishes of their sponsors, and the workers have no recourse to fair and unbiased arbitration of their situation.
So they are stuck in a s***hole camp, given food that is not fit for animal consuption and are forced to work excessive hours in gruelling conditions. In many cases they are paid less than the agreed salary and they may not receive any salary at all for months on end!
And they can do nothing about it.
They cannot even leave the country without their sponsors permission, and even if they could most of them would not have enough money to buy an air ticket anyway!
Professional expats suffer similar problems in Qatar that is; changes in contract terms made at the sponsors will, being unable to leave the country without sponsor permission etc, etc. Professional people are obviously in a better position to improve their situation, but at the end of the day they are still under the control of their sponsors, and have no fair legal recourse in the event of serious disputes.
Having learned this by experience, I would not want to work in Qatar again unless their is a major change in the sponsorship system and fair, basic human rights are granted to all expat workers in Qatar.
When are the 'professional' expats in Qatar going to wake up and take some action? They should strongly protest against the current situation and resolve to leave Qatar 'en masse' and immediately if the situation is not addressed and improved.
Just take a real hard look at the situation there. Many of the labourers and semi-skilled workers were 'duped' into taking up work in Qatar. In most cases they will have paid large amounts of cash to recruitment 'agents' in order to secure their jobs, and the only way they can do this is by borrowing money from relatives and friends in their home countries.
The terms of the contracts they were recruited under are changed according to the will and wishes of their sponsors, and the workers have no recourse to fair and unbiased arbitration of their situation.
So they are stuck in a s***hole camp, given food that is not fit for animal consuption and are forced to work excessive hours in gruelling conditions. In many cases they are paid less than the agreed salary and they may not receive any salary at all for months on end!
And they can do nothing about it.
They cannot even leave the country without their sponsors permission, and even if they could most of them would not have enough money to buy an air ticket anyway!
Professional expats suffer similar problems in Qatar that is; changes in contract terms made at the sponsors will, being unable to leave the country without sponsor permission etc, etc. Professional people are obviously in a better position to improve their situation, but at the end of the day they are still under the control of their sponsors, and have no fair legal recourse in the event of serious disputes.
Having learned this by experience, I would not want to work in Qatar again unless their is a major change in the sponsorship system and fair, basic human rights are granted to all expat workers in Qatar.
When are the 'professional' expats in Qatar going to wake up and take some action? They should strongly protest against the current situation and resolve to leave Qatar 'en masse' and immediately if the situation is not addressed and improved.