The Minister of Labour and Social Affairs H E Dr Abdullah Saleh Mubarak Al Khulaifi yesterday opened the conference on labour rights protection in Qatar and released the second edition of Dar Al Sharq’s White Book 2015.
The event at Torch Hotel was hosted by Dar Al Sharq under the patronage of the Prime Minster and Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani.
The Minister in his speech said that the huge numbers of workers and their families who came to Qatar to contribute to the development process in the State, would not have come without being sure that they will be well treated and that they could earn by their hard work more than they can get in their countries.
He drew the attention to a recent study conducted by academics at the University of Chicago and showed the role of the State of Qatar and the Gulf Cooperation Council in raising the standard of living of people in labour-exporting nations and that the State of Qatar plays an important role in reducing income inequality and realising fairness
of its distribution in the world. “That is not surprising as 85per cent of workforce in Qatar are temporary labourers who transfer the biggest portion of their income to their countries of origin, thus provide quality health services and better education for their families,” said the minister.
Jaber Al Harami, editor-in-chief of Al Sharq said that many positive things have happened last year that serves the interests of the labourer, including the amendments in the labour law.
“Our religious tradition prevents us from doing injustice to labourers and in case that happens it is a wrong behaviour in violation of the laws and regulations of the country,” said Al Harami.
He said that the White Book contains answers to many labour-related questions and it is a good source of information for everyone interested in Qatar.
Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Thani Al Thani, and Abdul Latif Al Mahmoud, CEO, Dar Al Sharq Group, were present at the occasion along with senior officials from different ministries, ambassadors and businessmen.
Dr Ayed Al Qahtani, CEO of RAF, said that the organization will be distributing awareness kits to labourers including brochures in different languages such as Urdu, Filipino and Indonesian.
He later told this newspaper that RAF’s national campaign “Baraka” aims to increase awareness about Qatari culture and law among domestic helps in Qatar. Awareness booklets were available in six languages that explain the rights of the workers. The second phase of the campaign will focus on companies and institutions.
RAF also launched a project named “Make their summer cold”, by distributing water coolers and food warmers.
Dr Fahd Al jabber, director of safety and health department at Qatar Rail said that the company had participated in the first edition of the White Book last year. This year also they are participating and supporting it.
“And because the Rail is a big company and have hundreds of workers, we want to put the company as a model to another companies and our labour accommodations are open to anyone who wants to visit see the situation of workers,” he said.The Peninsula
