Labour minister: Qatar hopes to abolish kafala system by the end of 2015
Dr. Abdullah Saleh Mubarak Al Khulaifi, Qatar's Labour and Social Affairs Minister, said Monday he hopes the country's "kafala" system will be abolished before the end of this year.
Under the system, employers in the country can prevent foreign workers from changing jobs or leaving the country.
Al Khulaifi said he was "90 percent" certain the system would be replaced within the next seven months. "I hope it will be prior to the year end," said Khulaifi, speaking at a press briefing in Doha to foreign reporters.
"We discussed it, our stakeholders have looked at it... Now it is on track.
"Do I believe it will come out positively? Yes, I do. Because at the end of the day I believe it is good for the economy, it's good for the country."
Asked if the scheme would be abolished by the end of the year, Khulaifi replied: "I am 90 percent hopeful or believe that it will be."
Doha says it will replace the system with one based instead on employment contracts.
These contracts would last a maximum of five years and the current exit permit system would be replaced with one where workers give the authorities a maximum of 72 hours' notice that they want to leave the country.
The proposed reform has been discussed by the cabinet and is currently being considered by Qatar's Shura Council, an assembly which has the power to draft new laws.
Al Khulaifi also said Qatar would fully implement another major labour reform — an electronic payment system for thousands of migrant labourers — by mid-August.
This would ensure that up to one million workers get paid at least once a month and, in some cases, every fortnight.
Many labourers working on major infrastructure or World Cup projects within the country have complained that payment of their salaries are often delayed.
"We are not hiding from our problems here in Qatar, we are facing them," said Khulaifi.
"We know that things aren't perfect but they are better than they were a year ago and I promise you they will be better a year from now." [AFP]
present international market is so tight to get the labor even paying high wages and good facilities,
so it will be much better for QATAR to implement this labor law for smooth labor flow enable to finish their project at the right time (2022). Nowadays middle east not the dream place for the labors, please take it as positive......I love QATAR.......
After the World Cup there will be lots of empty stadia, hotels, a Metro system that the locals don't use, and labor ghettos that will be empty. Qatar is going to be fun again.
I THINK WHAT AUTHORITIES ARE DOING IS WISE ....THIS IS SMALL COUNTRY WITH GREAT RESPONSIBILITY.... SO ALL STEPS TAKEN ARE IN THE INTEREST OF NATION AND ITS POPULATION.WE ARE HERE TO WORK AND GO BACK TO OUR COUNTRY. IT IS NOT THE ISSUE OF WORLD CUP BUT THE TIME BEYOND THAT....
I am just waiting for the time when I could write at QL: Dr. Abdullah Al-Khulaifi --- You Are Great! Mistakes of the past can always be rectified and it takes time to correct them step by step especially when something has been in existence for decades.
"mandatory transfer of workers salaries to bank accounts." doesn't mean anything unless the companies who don't do it get a hefty fine! Does it say anywhere in the "law" what the fine is for non-compliance? And, by the way, it's supposed (!) to be implemented in August at the earliest in phases. Before every company has to do it another five years will have passed.
Qatar is making constructive changes for the welfare of expats. For instance, mandatory transfer of workers salaries to bank accounts. Positive changes are coming. Have patience and don't forget we all love Qatar! :)
Qatar is making constructive changes for the welfare of expats. For instance, mandatory transfer of workers salaries to bank accounts. Positive changes are coming. Have patience and don't forget we all love Qatar! :)
LETS BE PRACTICAL......EACH PLACE HAVE THEIR OWN PRIORITIES
When a person of such high ranking and position makes openly a statement which affects thousands, it must be definitely based on some developments taking place within the government. I would simply remain patient and allow time to show the facts before jumping to conclusions. As of now, I would thank Dr Abdullah Al-Khulaifi for his efforts to bring in the much-wanted change.
I mean...world cup 2022 in Doha. :P
indeed WT......until such time that there will be no changes at all....and no 2022.
Yes, it's better to keep on hiding the truth.
We should not allow outsiders & strangers to do filming here & alter it to do some harm at later stages ................. ............
"We are not hiding from our problems here in Qatar, we are facing them," said Khulaifi." And this is a blunt lie. A German TV team from the state television ARD was given no permit to film laborers. As they did so without permit they were arrested for five days and all material they had gathered was destroyed. You can see the whole story here: http://www.sportschau.de/fussball/videoderverkauftefussballdiestory100.html
They said that a year ago, and they said that a year ago of the year ago. And they will keep saying this until everything is built for 2022. And then there won't be any need for abolishing the system. They think the world is stupid. Obviously the world is.