Over the past years, Qatar has started a series of reforms process on labour law to protect the rights of migrant workers in line with the country’s rapid development in all fields. Qatar, as one of the countries hosting and providing job opportunities to around two million people, has taken welfare and protection of the rights of these expatriate workers one of the key priorities through the reform of labour laws and introducing the best practices in this regard.
The Law No 15 abolished the “kafala” system and exit permit, a step considered revolutionary and was hailed by UN and rights advocating organizations. The step was and is not the last in this process, but it is a continuous process as each stage of development and advancement of the country has its own requirements, and changes always come in line with these factors. As the ultimate purpose is to establish a modern system that strengthens labour laws in the country and ensures the protection of the rights of all expatriate workers.
As part of the reforms, the Prime Minister and Interior Minister, H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, last week issued another important Decision No. (95) of 2019 which granted free movement to leave temporarily or permanently the country within the time frame or validity of their employment contract.
The move abolishing exit visa requirements for virtually all migrant workers was hailed by the UN labour organization considering it as a “milestone” in reform efforts ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
In the same context the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs has launched the third patch of electronic services for ‘Amerni’ application on smart phones in Arabic and English. The application, aims at saving time and efforts of users — individuals and companies, include five new services. As of now, the app offers a total of 33 services including 21 services for individuals and 12 services for companies, said the Ministry in a post ‘Mobile Application Guide’ published on its website.
The new application will allow people to file complaints against violating manpower recruitment offices. As well domestic workers will be able to file formal complaints as the application is easy to use after completing registration in simple steps.
These integrated steps of improvement of services along the law reform process are significant moves aiming to establish a modern labour system, and create an advanced labour market environment, where the rights of all expatriate workers fully protected.
