[QUOTE] Last year, reports of deadly accidents and inhumane working conditions at [URL="http://www.dw.de/fifa-seeks-clear-picture-on-workers-human-rights-in-qatar/a-17513589"]World Cup construction sites[/URL] in Qatar sparked an international outcry. But another group of migrant workers also faces hardship in the Gulf kingdom, according to Amnesty International. [URL="http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE22/004/2014/en/7b7121b8-37c1-4e49-b1a1-2d8a005450a3/mde220042014en.pdf"]In a report published on Wednesday[/URL], the London-based human rights group sheds light on the plight of domestic workers in Qatar.
In a series of interviews, the victims describe a horrifying situation. They tell a story of extremely low wages, 100-hour workweeks, virtually no breaks or holidays, little sleep, and humiliation and violence at the hands of their employers.
"The working conditions are very harsh for domestic workers," Regina Spöttl, Amnesty's Qatar expert, told DW.
More than 130,000 foreign nationals - primarily from South and Southeast Asia - work in Qatar as cleaners, cooks, babysitters, drivers and gardeners. Around 84,000 of them are women while 48,000 are men. They work for Qataris, Europeans, Americans, Asians, and Africans.
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[url]http://www.dw.de/amnesty-migrant-domestic-workers-face-widespread-abuse-in-qatar/a-17584057[/url]
And it seemed like such a modernized country for awhile.
Quatar is famous for its abuse of migrant workers, some of it is modernised slavery.
this has been happening for decades, business as usual for qatar
The UAE, Qatar and Kuwait have tonnes of immigrant workers brought in to work on construction projects under the deception that it's a temporary job, mostly when they arrive the company or at least the people they are hired through, confiscate their passports and force them to buy them back. Since the governments of the nations don't particularly care, they are essentially trapped there.
[QUOTE=mchapra;44624387]The UAE, Qatar and Kuwait have tonnes of immigrant workers brought in to work on construction projects under the deception that it's a temporary job, mostly when they arrive the company or at least the people they are hired through, confiscate their passports and force them to buy them back. Since the governments of the nations don't particularly care, they are essentially trapped there.[/QUOTE]
Also the fact that Slavery is still literally legal in the Persian Gulf states and the Arabian peninsula.
wow so countries known for oppressive human rights violations in many areas also have human rights violations when it comes to migrant workers...
kinda obvious really
What's interesting is how few desalination plants are in that region and how poorly they are guarded. Imagine what could happen if a revolt occured.
[QUOTE=mchapra;44624387]The UAE, Qatar and Kuwait have tonnes of immigrant workers brought in to work on construction projects under the deception that it's a temporary job, mostly when they arrive the company or at least the people they are hired through, confiscate their passports and force them to buy them back. Since the governments of the nations don't particularly care, they are essentially trapped there.[/QUOTE]
a great majority come in to work to support their families, not because they're misled to believe its a temp job. What they're misled about is the working conditions and hours and a multitude of other things, but unfortunately they're forced to put up with it, both because they're providing valuable income for their families that they couldnt otherwise get, and also because their passports are taken on arrival in some cases. a huge scandal erupted a few years ago because it was discovered a huge contracting company there was taking passports and refusing to give them back to the workers, and basically making them work to earn back their passports. since then it's gotten a bit better, but even that's a largery marginal "better". a good amount of construction workers, taxi drivers, security guards, retail workers etc etc are basically indentured servants. housemaids have it a little better, provided that their owners don't abuse them (when i lived there i heard so many stories from our family's maid about her friends that had gotten violently beaten by qatari families, even american families had a small reputation for being completely abusive towards their maids)
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