Qatar, host of the 2022
football World Cup, said Wednesday it will abolish its controversial
sponsorship system for foreign workers, whose treatment in the
energy-rich state has stirred mounting international criticism.
FIFA chief Sepp Blatter
described the move as a "significant step," but Amnesty International
said it lacked substance and amounted to a "missed opportunity".
The sponsorship system "will
be replaced with a system based on employment contracts," as part of a
package of labour reforms, said an interior ministry statement read out
at a press conference in Doha.
Sponsorship systems for foreign workers exist in most Gulf countries, which employ millions of foreigners, especially from Asia.
The system has been strongly criticised by human rights groups as open to abuse and likened to modern-day slavery.
Bahrain abolished the system in 2009, but Kuwait dropped reported plans to follow suit in 2011.
The Qatari reforms, which
need to be submitted to the emirate's consultative council and chamber
of commerce and industry before being adopted, will also end the
longstanding requirement that foreign workers obtain their employer's
consent before leaving the country.
"The current exit permit
system, which requires the employer's consent for an employee to leave
the country, will now be replaced with an automated system through the
ministry of interior," the statement said.
The new system will
automatically grant an exit permit to an employee "after a 72-hour grace
period prior to departure," it said.
The government will also raise
the fine for employers who confiscate the passports of foreign workers
to 50,000 rials ($13,580) from the current 10,000 rials, in a bid to
stamp out the illegal but still common practice.
Foreign workers will be able
to change job at the end of their contract, without the need for the
certificate they currently require that their previous employer has no
objection.
If the contract is open-ended, a foreign worker will be able to change jobs after five years.
"This announcement is a
significant step in the right direction for sustainable change in the
workers' welfare standards in Qatar," said Blatter, head of world
football's governing body FIFA.
"We look forward to seeing the implementation of these concrete actions over the next months," said the FIFA president.
"We will continue our close cooperation with Qatari authorities as well as dialogue with all key stakeholders," he added.
Amnesty International,
however, was less impressed, saying the proposed reforms "fall far short
of the fundamental changes needed to address systemic abuses against
migrant workers in the construction, domestic and other sectors."
"Based on today’s
announcement, the proposals appear to be a missed opportunity," said
Amnesty International's researcher James Lynch.
He said abolishing the
sponsorship system, called "kafala" in Arabic, sounds like "a change of
name rather than substantive reform."
"It remains unclear how
proposed reforms to the exit permit will work in practice, and whether
under the new proposal employers will retain the ability to object to
workers leaving the country."
The Qatari government has
commissioned independent law firm DLA Piper to prepare an in-depth
report on the working and living conditions of blue-collar workers. It acknowledged receiving the report earlier this month but did not reveal its findings.
Human Rights Watch said the government's proposed reforms "did not make clear how they intend to deal with the report."
"The DLA Piper report
confirms the serious problems Qatar is facing in its preparations to
host the 2022 World Cup," the watchdog's Middle East researcher Nicholas
McGeehan said.
"The ball is now back in Qatar’s court and it is up to them to act on the report’s findings and recommendations."
Officials gave no precise timeline for implementation of the reforms.
Qatar's treatment of its
massive foreign workforce has been under the international spotlight as
it launches a massive construction programme for the world football
showcase.
Doha has rejected charges
that construction workers are being mistreated while announcing a series
of measures to improve workplace safety and workers' conditions.
The 2022 edition of the
World Cup has been mired in controversy ever since it was awarded to the
tiny Arab monarchy in the Gulf.
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