DOHA: Qatar said yesterday that the final draft of the sponsorship law is expected to be ready by the end of this year and further reforms in the “labour practices” in the country are in the offing.
A statement issued by the Government Communications Office yesterday also said that the government was looking at ways to address “dishonest recruitment practices” in the source countries in the interest of foreign workers being recruited to jobs in Qatar.
Remittances from foreign workers in Qatar amounted to a whopping $14bn last year, supporting some 1.3 million families worldwide, said the statement.
“The Qatari cabinet is preparing the final draft of the kafala reform legislation and is expected to complete it before the end of 2015,” Qatar News Agency quoted the statement as saying.
The new law represents “significant reform of the kafala labour contract system”, said the statement, adding that this was “just one step in a longer journey, and in the months ahead the government will be looking at further reforms to labour practices in our country.”
The statement came amid concerns being raised about the much-awaited sponsorship law after the Advisory Council took exception to some key articles in the draft law.
The government said that it had made “measurable progress” with regard to labour practices in the country.
The Communications Office also expressed the government’s understanding of the concerns of global NGOs and other stakeholders with regard to the rights of expatriate workers.
Qatar is “deeply grateful to those who have come from foreign lands to help us build our nation. Their labour rights — and their human rights — should be, must be, and will be respected,” said the statement.
Referring to the government’s plans to curb dishonest recruitment practices in the home countries of expatriate workers, the Communication Office noted that many of the workers “arrive in Doha with debts of $5000 or more.
“Qatar has an established legislative process that governs the creation and revision of its laws,” The office said. This process is meant to accommodate and balance different points of view.
The first step begins with the State Cabinet, responsible for all the laws of the State, which will submit a draft law to the Shura Council for review. The Council, comprised of 30 Qatari citizens, then gives its recommendations on the proposed law and policy. Afterwards, the Council sends the draft law to the Cabinet along with the recommendations for the ministers responsible for the law’s implementation to discuss it.
Following this procedure, the “Kafala reform legislation” was sent by the Cabinet to the Shura Council for review. The Council then made a number of recommendations on the draft. On Sunday, the Prime Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani met with members of the Shura Council to discuss these recommendations, said the statement.
Meanwhile, the Advisory Council’s Internal and External Affairs Committee held further discussions on the draft sponsorship law in the presence of the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs H E Dr Abdullah bin Saleh Al Khulaifi. He explained the ministry’s viewpoint on the draft law and responded to queried from the committee members. The Committee decided to invite Qatar Chamber chairman Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohamed Al Thani to attend its next meeting to give the Chamber’s viewpoint on the draft law, QNA reported yesterday.
THE PENINSULA
