ABSTRACT:

“The heavy reliance on migrant labor in Qatar presents significant problems for these workers. Qatar benefits from imported labor, and migrants are able to earn more money than they would in their home countries. However, migrant workers from South and Southeast Asia are often deceived and exploited by sponsors and recruiters in the receiving and sending countries through physical and emotional abuse, inadequate wages, poor living conditions, and denial of freedom to travel or change jobs. The practices of recruitment agencies in the sending countries and the current labor laws of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) do not favor the workers and have facilitated the continuation of abusive practices. The sponsor system should be reformed through liberalization of the current system. Simultaneously, the recruitment system should be reformed through bilateral engagements between Qatar and other nations with large numbers of citizens working in Qatar.”