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bq | COVER STORY | LABOUR RECRUITMENT

GOOD

MIGRATIONS
Photograph: Bosco Menezes

Will Qatari businesses take the lead

in improving labour recruitment?
By Vani Saraswathi, Doha

from the fringes of the capital Doha to one in the north.

Most will house about 28,000 workers. While no final
figure for how much the project costs is available, Labour
city, with 55 buildings including a mall, clinic and the
second largest mosque in Qatar, cost USD 825 mn.

"When you look at nearly one million

people coming in for a particular purpose, they are also going to add value
to the country. As consumers, they
will be generating more revenues
for the country as they will go out to
make purchases and use the facilities
in the market on a daily basis"
Growing workforce pressure
Labour demographics in Qatar have been changing since
2011 when FIFA 2022-related development projects
began to be announced after Qatar won the bid to host
the coveted event early in December of 2010. By September 2014, according to the Ministry of Development
Planning and Statistics, Qatar's labour force stood at 1.65
million, of which a massive 1.55 million were expatriate
workers. The majority of workers were employed in the
construction sector. In 2013, the construction industry
accounted for nearly 37 percent of the country's entire
workforce, or about 550,000 workers, most of who were
from Asia - Nepal, India and the Philippines. By 2014end, Qatar's population had already soared to 2.23 million, with over 190,000 new arrivals in the year, putting
immense pressure on basic services.
The shortage of workers' accommodation, schools
for expatriate children and housing for limited-income
expatriate families are currently the most talked about
issues in business circles as well as in expatriate communities. The population has been increasing and if a
million more foreign workers descend here over the next
few years, the situation may become more challenging,
say analysts.

As Qatars infrastructure development worth billions of

dollars continues at a rapid pace, with falling oil prices
having little or no effect on its growth, local businesses
face massive challenges. Infrastructure projects worth
USD 200 billion are underway including a new port,
the metro system in Doha and construction of stadiums
in preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. On the
one hand, businesses get a generous piece of the pie by
participating in the development. On the other, there
is increasing pressure on them to run a clean ship. The
country, currently in the eye of a storm, cannot afford to
turn a blind eye to exploitative labour practices.

G2G should be used in conjunction

with private recruitment. Because
there is less evidence of corruption
with government recruitment organisations in the origin countries.
As of May 2015 Qatars population stood at 2,374,860;
about 200,000 more than the previous year. Most of the
new residents are lower income migrant workers being
brought in to help realise the big plans. The need for
lower income migrant workers is only set to grow over
the next five to six years. One of the major issues facing
companies then is not only to provide decent working
and living conditions, but also to recruit the workers in
an ethical manner that does not engender them in any
way, including landing them in debt bondage.
Labour recruitment doesnt have a set pattern, or
one cohesive route from origin to destination. At present, it is the cheapest (for employer) possible method
that is embraced. This obviously develops into a host of
problems. According to the ILO, which has launched a
Fair Recruitment Initiative, 44 percent of those in forced
labour globally, are migrants. It also states, migrant
workers who borrow money from third parties (to pay
recruitment fees and other migration-related expenses)
face an increased risk of being in forced labour.
Several reports, including that under taken by Qatar
Foundation1 , reveal that workers coming to Qatar pay
hefty recruitment fees, and get into debt bondage to
JULY 2015

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Even though Qatars

regulations clearly state
that charging recruitment fees from workers
is illegal, and that the
costs have to be borne
by the employers, in
practice, this is not
enforced
India moves to electronic
recruitment
India, where the majority of workers
hail from, has recently introduced
the eMigrate system that makes it
mandatory for foreign employers
(FE) to register on the site. The actual
recruitment process itself could be
done through private agencies or
directly, but the request for recruitment has to be registered online.
As per the order, the foreign
employer should raise demand and
seek a permit to recruit directly or
select recruiting agents online only
after getting registered with the
Indian Mission through the eMigrate
system. Such FEs shall be required to
declare the terms and conditions of
www.bqdoha.com
www.bqmagazine.com

Photograph: Bosco Menezes

do so. As William Gois, of Migrant

Forum in Asia, summarises, People
have to buy their right to work and
that is just not alright.
Even though Qatars regulations
clearly state that charging recruitment fees from workers is illegal,
and that the costs have to be borne by
the employers, in practice, this is not
enforced. There is no oversight on
the procurement chain including
in countries of origin to ensure they
are not exploited.
Corporations in Qatar have an
increased responsibility then to
ensure that workers they recruit
are not vulnerable to trafficking
or forced labour. With billions of
riyals worth of construction projects
underway, the various participants
in this economic bounty, could
set an example in fair and ethical
recruitment. Some sending countries are now exploring ways to
mitigate fraudulent recruitment and
trafficking.

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STORYSTORY
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employment for each category of job,

at the time of applying for the mean
registration. The declared terms and
conditions of employment will act
as a specimen contract and will form
the part of employment contract at
the time of actual recruitment.
The first two phases require
employers seeking over 150 employees to register online. From 1 July,
those with over 50 employees have
to follow this procedure, and from 1
August, those requiring more than
20 employees will be added to this
system. This new system to a great
degree directly addresses problems
of contract substitution. But it is not
the Government to Government
(G2G) recruitment that many activists advocate.
Government to Government
recruitment
Dr. Ray Jureidini is the author of
Migrant Labour Recruitment to
Qatar, a report for the Qatar Foundation Migrant Worker Welfare

Initiative1 . In his opinion, G2G

should be used in conjunction with
private recruitment. Because there
is less evidence of corruption with
government recruitment organisations in the origin countries. This
can be coupled with more transparency in electronic recruitment and
employment measures.
A G2G would also require bilateral agreements (BLAs). The move
by India makes it mandatory regardless of BLAs, and covers all citizens
who require an emigration check
(usually unskilled workers without
minimum education levels).
Qatar recently signed an agreement with Bangladesh for 50,000
workers visas. Though it is a bilateral agreement, it is not clear if this
covers government oversight in
recruitment. Bangladesh already has
a G2G with Malaysia, but it is one
fraught with problems as neither
countries have invested in oversight,
says Gois. This means there are job
orders, and workers available, but

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bq | COVER STORY | LABOUR RECRUITMENT

and ethical processes, there just isnt

enough incentive or enough support
to do so. That is not to say it cannot
be done. It will be done at a cost. As
Gois points out, To do it right there
is a cost. If enough people do it right,
it will be rationalised. Businesses
should realise that in the long term to
drive down costs and up productivity, you will have one skilled instead
of 10 unskilled workers.
His organisation is also behind
RecruitmentReform.org, a global
civil society initiative to aggregate
current news, research, campaigns,
and policy initiatives on international labour migration and
recruitment.

since recruitment is not through

government, it is not moved quickly
enough.
According to Gois, right now
there is no G2G that serves as a good
model. Even with South Korea,
considered a leader, there are certain
constraints from their side. Workers,
for instance, cannot transfer jobs.
The good bit about South Korea is
that the government has invested in
it. There is some oversight on workers coming into the country.
He says the GCC is very much
still market driven. When it comes
to recruitment of cheap labour, it is
a free market. While it puts regulations, there is no implementation.
But we have to recognise that we
have come some way in not playing the blame game, referring to
the Asian Parliamentary caucus
that has been in talks with countries of employment to ensure safe
migration.
So even if businesses in Qatar
wish to follow more streamlined

Companies can circumvent this by offering workers automatic

exit visas; recruit exclusively with ethical
recruitment agencies
that do not take any
money from workers;
ensure they are paid
properly and on time;
and that they have
enough food to eat
and are provided with
decent accommodation in accordance with
the QF and Q22 worker
welfare standards
Employee engagement at all levels
That point cannot be driven home
strongly enough. There doesnt seem
to be enough of a will to mechanise
or optimise the simplest of jobs. Yes,
there are a few eerily lifelike robots
at certain roadworks holding a red
flag. More often than not, a poorly
paid individual is doing that job,
when his time and skills could be put
to better use. Similarly, when cost
is the driving factor in recruitment,
then you dont get the best talent;
only the one that asks for the least,
and has probably paid the most as
recruitment fees.

Dr. Jureidini says businesses

should understand that by investing in better recruitment practices,
they will benefit from a more robust
workforce that is not trapped in debt
and forced to work to pay off those
debts. Ethical recruitment means
workers will work not because they
have to, but because they want to.
Yes, to earn as much as they can for
their families but without the burden
of debt and if they are treated well,
all studies show that they will be
more productive. In corporatespeak, Employee Engagement.
This kind of exploitative recruitment doesnt really benefit businesses
either. Even when a business, usually
construction firms, opts for outsourcing to manpower firms to supply
labour, it is not always cheaper, Dr.
Jureidini says. It just lifts the burden
of direct hire during uncertain periods. But it also means that employing
companies do not concern themselves with how they were recruited
or how they were treated. He calls it
a Corporate Veil.
World over corporates are being
held accountable for their procurement line, and are looking deeper
into violation of human rights. Even
if it is to manage a PR situation. A
few do so on their own volition. That
is the challenge ahead for Qatari
businesses. Yes, the laws are to be
amended, and the Kafala system
is pending reform, but businesses
could take a stance.
Companies can circumvent
this (despite the law and until the
reforms promised are enacted) by
offering workers automatic exit
visas; recruit exclusively with ethical
recruitment agencies that do not take
any money from workers; ensure
they are paid properly and on time;
and that they have enough food to
eat and are provided with decent
accommodation in accordance with
the QF and Q22 worker welfare
standards.
1

Qatar Foundation report www.qscience.com/

userimages/ContentEditor/1404811243939/
Migrant_Labour_Recruitment_to_Qatar_Web_
Final.pdf
https://emigrate.gov.in/ext/home.action

JULY 2015