European Parliament’s rights body chair hails Qatar’s labour reforms

Doha: The Chair of the European Parliament’s Human Rights Subcommittee, Maria Arena, has lauded Qatar’s labour reforms, stressing that the country must continue its efforts to ensure sustained growth in human rights.  

After the ‘European Union and Human Rights’ workshop organised by Qatar National Human Rights Committee, the reforms are essential and should be implemented correctly.

“Since 2018, many reforms have been adopted with the impetus of the Qatar National Human Rights Committee and the action of the Minister of Labour, H E Dr. Ali bin Smaikh Al Marri. These include the abolition of the Kafala system, workers’ mobility, the introduction of the minimum wage, workplace health and safety mechanisms, creating a social fund, establishing collective bargaining arrangements, and more. These reforms are important, but they need to be correctly implemented, evaluated and followed up, which is why we welcome the International Labour Organisation’s engagement as a partner in implementing these reforms,” Arena said.

Arena participated in the workshop, which was an opportunity to assess the progress made by Qatar in the field of human rights and, more specifically, the rights of expat workers. 

 “There is no doubt that the World Cup has been an accelerator of change. However, the efforts made thus far must be sustained to prepare the Qatari economy and society for future challenges and ensure that the quality of working conditions gets the long-term investment it needs,” she added.

Besides, NHRC Secretary-General Sultan bin Hassan Al Jamali, while speaking at the workshop said that the main objective of the training workshop is to give the participants a background on the European charters, mechanisms and institutions concerned with human rights, especially the European Union, the Council of Europe and the European Parliament. It also introduced the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the EU agencies, and the European Court of Human Rights.

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