Slowly, changes are coming to end the notoriously terrible conditions for migrant workers in Qatar.

The tiny Gulf Arab nation, where 2 million foreigners account for approximately 95 percent of the labor force, has long been criticized for its kafala (“sponsorship”) system under which employers enjoy near-total control over the status of migrant workers. (The system is also used in some other Middle Eastern countries.)

But in recent months, many elements of Qatar’s kafala system have effectively been dismantled. After cooperation with the International Labor Organization (ILO), a new law went into effect in March creating a minimum wage covering workers of all nationalities in all sectors. The law, which also requires that employers cover some food and housing expenses, is the first of its kind in the region, and will directly benefit more than 400,000 workers, ILO estimates.

Last year, the government enacted reforms allowing workers to change jobs without their employer’s permission and removed the need to obtain an exit permit to leave the country. By April, 119,000 migrant laborers had reportedly switched jobs. 

The changes come as Qatar prepares to host the FIFA World Cup next year. Soccer’s world governing body was heavily criticized for its 2010 decision to locate the games in Qatar, where temperatures regularly reach over 110°F for long periods of the day. Migrant workers in construction and other fields have been crucial to Qatar’s ability to host the competition, but have often worked in extremely hazardous conditions. A recent investigation by The Guardian found that more than 6,500 migrant workers from five South Asian countries have died since FIFA’s decision—an average of 12 per week.

Migrants in Qatar and other Gulf Arab countries were also particularly hard hit by impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many were vulnerable to both the virus and the economic downturn that has accompanied it. Writing in the Migration Information Source last year, Bangladeshi diplomat M.N.I. Sorkar described the challenges of several million of his country’s migrants in the Gulf, as well as the communities in Bangladesh who depended on their remittances.

Still, the pace of change in Qatar is slow—and reforms of the kafala system have been tendered before yet changed little. Foreign laborers remain dependent on their bosses in many ways, and workers have said their employers simply ignored the legal changes, punishing employees for trying to switch jobs.

The World Cup kicks off next November. Qatar seems eager not to have its labor practices overshadow the competition, but it has yet to finish the job.

Best regards,
Julian Hattem
Editor, Migration Information Source
[email protected]