The number of complaints more than doubled, reaching 34,425 between October 2021 and October 2022, thanks to the launch in 2021 of an online complaints platform.
The non-payment of wages constitutes the “main complaintof migrant workers to the Qatari Ministry of Labor, according to two reports from the International Labor Organization (ILO) on Tuesday, 19 days before the FIFA World Cup in the emirate. The number of complaints hasmore than doubled”, reaching 34,425 between October 2021 and October 2022, thanks to the launch in 2021 of an online complaint platform including an anonymous whistleblower channel, according to these reports which urge Qatar to “continue to work for the full respect of international labor standards“.
Between 2018 and 2020, the host country of the Mondial-2022, regularly criticized by international unions and NGOs for its breaches of human rights, in particular those of migrant workers, undertook vast reforms of its labor legislation. “Qatar has shown its determination to advance its reform agenda“, Estimates the ILO, seized in 2014 of a complaint by international unions against Qatar and installed in the country since 2018.
Some “mechanisms need to be strengthened”
But “it is universally recognized that challenges remain in its implementation, which is not surprising given the scale and pace of reforms undertaken“, Estimates the UN agency. Among the remaining priorities, she points to “the need to ensure that all workers and employers can benefit from labor mobility lawsfrom one employer to another. “Mechanisms for workers to file complaints and recover their wages need to be strengthened“, she adds. “And the rights of homeworkers must be better protected, including in terms of working time and rest“.
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While NGOs are worried about the abandonment of reforms after the World-2022 (November 20-December 18), “the government has repeatedly said the World Cup is not the finish lineand that these reforms were part of the emirate’s economic diversification program, based mainly on its significant natural gas resources, by 2030, notes the ILO.
The agency is currently based in Qatar until 2023 and “the government has officially and publicly requested that the ILO establish a more permanent presence in Doha», is it specified in these reports.
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