A remote meeting was organized by the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs, and expatriate community leaders in Qatar and Building and Wood Workers International (BWI) and a number of international labour leaders on the occasion of the celebration of International Workers Day.
During the meeting, Qatar affirmed its commitment to preserving the dignity of expatriates and ensuring the continuation of a decent work environment in Qatar and protecting expatriate workers from the negative effects arising from the spread of the coronavirus.
Mohamed Hassan Al Obaidli, the Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs – took the opportunity to restate firmly the commitment of Qatar in upholding the dignity of labour. He explained that; “Time and again, the Amir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, issues statements and directives to the entire government of Qatar to ensure that decent work is upheld in our country. Time and again, we express our deepest gratitude for the migrant workers who have helped and continue to help build our country. The government of Qatar is not leaving any stone unturned to ensure that workers are protected as much as possible from the ill effects of this crisis.”
Al Obaidli added; “We have issued guidelines on health and employment; we have collaborated with you in information and education campaign enabling us to reach close to 300,000 workers so far; we have instituted alternative mechanisms for labour complaints given the need for restriction in movements of people; we have heightened inspections and take legal actions against violators of the standards as set forth in our laws. I am glad to inform you that in a letter sent by a group of international trade unions and civil society organizations to the government of Qatar, it was stated that they do recognize that Qatar exercises transparency regarding the management of the crisis and they do commend Qatar’s approach in managing the crisis”.
