Changes to kafala system to take time
The enactment of Qatar’s much-awaited new sponsorship law will take time, but will not be delayed for long.
Rumours that the new law ‘will get delayed for years’ is not true, a senior official of the Ministry of Interior has said.
The authorities concerned are busy getting their acts together to finalise the proposals. It demands lot of discussions, review and integration of all aspects.
The entire process is fast progressing, but it has to go through various channels before the approval. But there will not be any ‘undue delay’ before the announcement, said Brigadier Nasser Mohammed Al Sayed, Director, Research and Follow-up Department at the ministry.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the first consultative meeting on ‘Combating human trafficking in Qatar’.
Brigadier Al Sayed reiterated that the new sponsorship law will definitely bring ‘good news’ to the expatriates and said: “Expats are our partners in the development of our country and their prospects are bright.”
All government entities are trying their level best to solve the problems of the country’s expat communities.
There is an existing system of different companies offering different pay scales for same profession. Currently, there is no uniformity in the salaries of people in the same profession.
This is causing great concern among expatriate workers. The demands for sponsorship transfer really stem from this issue. The new law is expected to address it.
Brigadier Al Syed said 1,043 workers had been found illegally transferred to other sponsors last year, and about 165 complaints of illegal visa trading had been filed at the ministry. People involved in human trafficking under ‘name sake companies’ will not be allowed to do that. He said about 51 such companies had been prosecuted.
The Search and Follow-up Department has set up a permanent committee to look into the complaints related to human trafficking. Investigations are being carried out by different levels of officials. The committee has also facilities to investigate complaints regarding visa trade, with the support of agencies operating in the country and outside.
Strict measures have been put in place to prevent people involved in visa trade from entering the country.
The two-day consultative meeting on ‘Combating human trafficking’ is organised by Qatar Foundation for Social Protection and Rehabilitation and the UN Center for Training and Documentation in Human Rights.
very typical... "draggin feet"... not only proposed changes are cosmetic ... they will be delayed ...so much bla bla bla... just a show.. PR efforts... and this particular one is no exception..
so the well publicized press conference is a just a show off
"The entire process is fast progressing, but it has to go through various channels before the approval."....
ok.... before 2022....
Calling a hugely publicized press conference to just announce a proposal draft of new labour laws months ago itself was a farce to say the least! Which self respecting government would call a press conference to announce a proposal which eventually might be rejected by the council. Ideally such a press conference should have only been called for to announce a law that has been brought into effect. It surely does not reflect well on the government when majority of the expatriates do not believe that it has the actual resolve or commitment to bring about effective changes. More action, less talk.
have you noticed khalli that there is now an option to comment? FB comments and QL comments! But it's only on the news section.
Dear Mods, how come when I am trying to upload this news - it always says I am violating QL Guidelines... hmmmm....