Authorities have made “measurable progress” with regard to labour practices in Qatar, says an official statement

QNA
Doha


The  Cabinet is preparing the final draft of the kafala (sponsorship system) reform legislation and is expected to complete it before the end of 2015, a statement from the newly-established Qatar Government Communications Office said yesterday.
Authorities have made “measurable progress” with regard to labour practices in Qatar, the statement said, adding that the new legislation  represented “significant reform of the kafala contract system”.
The Communications Office, however, said  the reform of the kafala system 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”.
It also expressed the government’s understanding of the concerns of global NGOs and other stakeholders with regard to the rights of expatriate workers.
The Communications Office said that Qatar was “deeply grateful to those who have come from foreign lands to help us build our nation”, adding that “their labour rights – and their human rights – should be, must be, and will be respected”.
The Qatari government will be looking for ways to address dishonest recruitment practices in the home countries of expatriate workers, noting that many of the workers “arrive in Doha with debts of $5,000 or more”, the Communications Office said.
The statement highlighted that just like workers’ help built the Qatari nation, the wages they took helped support their families and their countries’ economy.
“Last year alone, foreign workers in Qatar transferred more than $14bn in remittances, supporting some 1.3mn families in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and elsewhere around the world,” the Communications Office pointed out.
“Qatar has an established legislative process that governs the creation and revision of its laws,” it said.
It noted that the Qatari legislative process had been established to accommodate and balance different points of view.
The Communications Office  provided a breakdown of the process of issuing laws in Qatar. The first step begins with the Cabinet, responsible for all of the laws of the State of Qatar, submitting a draft law to the Shura Council for review.
The Advisory Council, consisting of 30 Qatari citizens, then provides its recommendations on the proposed law and policy.
Afterwards, the Advisory 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 that established procedure, the kafala reform legislation was sent by the Cabinet to the Shura Council for review.
The Advisory Council then made a number of recommendations to the draft.
On Sunday, HE the Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani met with members of the Shura Council to discuss these recommendations.

Minister attends Advisory Council panel meeting

The Advisory Council’s Internal and External Affairs Committee, meeting under its Rapporteur Mohamed Abdullah al-Sulaiti, yesterday resumed its study of a draft law regulating the entry and exit of expatriates and their residence.  
HE the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Dr Abdullah bin Saleh al-Khulaifi attended the meeting. Al-Khulaifi explained the Ministry’s viewpoint on the draft law and answered questions by committee members.
The committee decided to invite Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman, HE Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani, to attend its next meeting to give the chamber’s viewpoint on the draft law.