27/08/2020
Migrant workers starve as defiant Qatar continues exploitation: HRW - Saudi Gazette
further into debt and trap them in these jobs with ine ective mechanisms of redress, the
report said.
"Independent employers, as well as those operating labor supply companies, frequently
delay, withhold, or arbitrarily deduct workers' wages.”
Wage abuses have been further exacerbated since the outbreak of the coronavirus. Some
employers used the pandemic as a pretext to withhold wages or refuse to pay outstanding
wages to workers who are detained and forcibly repatriated. Some workers said they could
not even a ord to buy food. Others said they went into debt to survive.
"Since the pandemic
frequently," HRW said.
rst appeared in Qatar, these abuses have appeared more
"In the worst cases, workers told HRW that employers simply stopped paying their wages,
and they often struggled to feed themselves."
"Taking employers and their companies to the Labor Relations department or the Labor
Dispute Resolution Committees is di cult, costly, time-consuming, ine ective, and can
often result in retaliation," the watchdog said.
HRW called on Qatar to enact recommendations by the UN's International Labor
Organization to lay down prompt payment laws, protect bank accounts and introduce
expedited adjudication in cases of non-payment.
https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/597017?fbclid=IwAR2Dvke51tTgmHTDbN3e7i6jax3MXbNVvnyKVNQR84ENGIRG6FfB65rTf7U
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