NOVANEWS
By James M. Dorsey
The adoption of a human rights declaration by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that was designedto shield wealthy Gulf monarchies including 2022 World Cup host Qatar from criticism by humanrights and trade union activists is likely to increase pressure on the sports-focused Gulf state tosignificantly alter its controversial migrant labour system.The declaration by the GCC which groups Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain,Kuwait and Oman was adopted earlier this month at a summit of Gulf leaders in the Qatari capitalDoha. The declaration signaled the GCC’s refusal to recognize its citizen’s political rights includingthe right to freedom of thought and expression. It did however acknowledge that “people are equal in dignity and humanity, in rights and freedoms, and equal before the law” with “no distinction
between them for reasons of origin, gender, religion, language, colour, or any other form of
distinction.”
That acknowledgement strengthens demands by human rights and trade union activists that Qatarembrace the principle of collective bargaining that would eliminate its system of setting wages formigrant workers according to nationality.
Proponents of a radical reform of Qatar’s sponsorship or kafala system that puts workers at the
mercy of their employers have argued that Qatar needs to introduce a uniform minimum wage andauthorize collective bargaining a key demand of the International Confederation of Trade Unions (ICTU), one of Qatar’s toughest critics.
Standards for the working and living conditions of migrant workers issued by the Qatar Foundation(QF), one of two government institutions alongside the 2022 Supreme Committee for Delivery &Legacy at the forefront of a push for change, insist that “ workers shall receive equal pay for equalwork irrespective of their nationality, gender, ethnic origin, race, religion or legal status. The 2022 committee’s standards stress equal treatment of workers.
A report to the foundation by migration scholar Ray Jureidini said that “i t is not entirely certain howthe comparative wage differe nces have been derived, or why.”
The report recommendedintroduction of a minimum wage to eliminate discriminatory wage policies as part of an effort to ensure Qatar’s competitiveness.“If Qatar wishes to have wage rates of migrant workers se t by supply and demand in a local labourmarket, then it will need to lift the current kafala sponsorship system, allow workers to changeemployers without sponsor approval (as is now the case in Bahrain), allow collective bargaining totake place that will establish wage rates, terms and conditions of all occupations filled by non-Qatar
is in the country”, Mr. Jureidini said. A similar recommendation was made by the United
Nations Special Rapporteur for migrants’ human rights.
With the executive committee of FIFA meeting in Morocco, a member of the committee, ThomasZwanziger, warned that the world soccer body could deprive Qatar of its World Cup hosting rights ifthe Gulf state failed to implement recommendations that included the creation of a minimum wagefor each category of construction worker made by a Qatar-sponsored review of its labour legislationby British-based law firm DLA Piper. The review called for far-reaching reforms including abolition ofthe kafala system and proposed the establishment of an independent commission to oversee thereform process.
