• Human Rights in Qatar
    In 2012, Qatar’s population grew nearly 5 percent, to 1.95 million, primarily due to an influx of foreign labor for the booming construction sector in advance of the 2020 World Cup. Qatar has the highest ratio of non-citizens to citizens in the world, with nationals comprising approximately 12 percent of the population. Forced labor and human trafficking are serious problems. A new draft media law was passed that may jeopardize Qatar's reputation as a center for media freedom, and a poet was sentenced to life imprisonment. Local media tend to self-censor, and the law permits criminal penalties, including prison terms, for defamation.

  • Qatar: Abolish Exit Visas for Migrant Workers
    May 30, 2013
    Qatar should immediately abolish its exit visa requirements, which expose migrant workers to the risk of exploitation and abuse. The exit visa system can prevent foreigners from leaving the country merely on the say-so of a current or former employer. The case of a French professional footballer who is unable to leave Qatar illustrates how the exit visa system can be used against migrant workers in disputes with their employers. Zahir Belounis, who played for the Al Jaish team, is pursuing a claim for unpaid wages in the Qatari courts. He told Human Rights Watch that his former employers have insisted that he drop his claim or they will not issue him the exit visa he must produce to leave Qatar.
  • Qatar: Promises, Little Action on Migrant Workers’ Rights
    Feb 7, 2013
    Qatar has not delivered on its pledges to improve migrant workers’ rights, Human Rights Watch said today at a news conference in Doha about its World Report 2013. More than two years after it won the right to host the 2022 World Cup, It is high time for Qatar to deliver on its promises for reforms to prevent the trafficking and forced labor of migrant workers, Human Rights Watch said. The Qatar Supreme Committee for Qatar 2022 – the tournament’s quasi-governmental delivery committee – has made encouraging pledges on workers’ rights, but these lack detail. Nor do they mask the failure of the Qatari authorities either to reform exploitative laws, such as the kafala system of sponsorship-based employment and the prohibition on trade unions, or to enforce the prohibition on illegal recruitment fees and the confiscation of passports.
More news »

Reports

More >>

Qatar

  • Qatar: Abolish Exit Visas for Migrant Workers
    May 30, 2013
    Qatar should immediately abolish its exit visa requirements, which expose migrant workers to the risk of exploitation and abuse. The exit visa system can prevent foreigners from leaving the country merely on the say-so of a current or former employer. The case of a French professional footballer who is unable to leave Qatar illustrates how the exit visa system can be used against migrant workers in disputes with their employers. Zahir Belounis, who played for the Al Jaish team, is pursuing a claim for unpaid wages in the Qatari courts. He told Human Rights Watch that his former employers have insisted that he drop his claim or they will not issue him the exit visa he must produce to leave Qatar.
  • Qatar: Promises, Little Action on Migrant Workers’ Rights
    Feb 7, 2013
    Qatar has not delivered on its pledges to improve migrant workers’ rights, Human Rights Watch said today at a news conference in Doha about its World Report 2013. More than two years after it won the right to host the 2022 World Cup, It is high time for Qatar to deliver on its promises for reforms to prevent the trafficking and forced labor of migrant workers, Human Rights Watch said. The Qatar Supreme Committee for Qatar 2022 – the tournament’s quasi-governmental delivery committee – has made encouraging pledges on workers’ rights, but these lack detail. Nor do they mask the failure of the Qatari authorities either to reform exploitative laws, such as the kafala system of sponsorship-based employment and the prohibition on trade unions, or to enforce the prohibition on illegal recruitment fees and the confiscation of passports.
  • Qatar: Poet’s Conviction Violates Free Expression
    Dec 4, 2012
    A Qatari court’s life sentence for the poet Muhammad Ibn al-Dheeb al-Ajami after a grossly unfair trial flagrantly violates the right to free expression. Putting Ibn al-Deeb on trial badly undermined Qatar’s efforts to present itself as a free speech haven.
  • Qatar: Revise Draft Media Law to Allow Criticism of Rulers
    Oct 30, 2012
    Qatar’s ruler should not approve a draft media law unless loosely worded provisions penalizing criticism of Qatar or neighboring governments are removed.
  • Qatar: Drop Charges Against Poet Ibn al-Dheeb
    Sep 6, 2012
    We are writing to you to express our concerns over the continued detention of Qatari poet Muhammad Ibn al-Dheeb al-Ajami, and the inconsistency of this action with Qatar’s international obligations and its burgeoning global reputation as a center for media freedom.
  • UK Firms Face Unsightly Reality of Qatar's Global Ambitions
    Jul 12, 2012
    The Qatari government routinely and rigorously enforces some of its laws - those that grant employers extensive control over migrant workers. Its most problematic regulations include the kafala system of sponsorship-based employment, which ties workers to one employer; and an exit visa requirement, which allows employers to prevent workers from leaving the country without their permission.
  • Qatar: Migrant Construction Workers Face Abuse
    Jun 12, 2012
    Hundreds of thousands of mostly South Asian migrant construction workers in Qatar risk serious exploitation and abuse, sometimes amounting to forced labor. Both the government and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) need to make sure that their commitments to respect workers’ rights in preparation for the 2022 World Cup are carried out. Construction contractors should also make specific, public commitments to uphold international labor standards.
  • Open to Abuse
    Oct 5, 2011
    The stench of mold in the dormitory was overpowering. A dozen bunk beds hugged the perimeter, lest one centimeter of potential sleeping space be wasted. Wooden planks served as mattresses for some of the men who called that barrack home.This was not a prison or a housing complex in one of the world’s poorer regions. It was a company-built dormitory for Bangladeshi workers in the state of Qatar, the world’s wealthiest nation in terms of gross domestic product per capita. And it took only 15 minutes to get there from Doha’s breathtaking downtown.
  • Women in the Crossfire
    Jun 8, 2011
    Iman Obeidi became famous in March when she burst into the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli and accused Libyan forces of raping her. She was quickly taken by authorities, but eventually found her way to Qatar to seek refugee status in the West. Last week, Qatari authorities inexplicably sent her back to Libya. She has since begun the process of moving to the U.S., where she will apply for refugee status. Her story has highlighted a growing problem – the use of rape as a tool in war zones. [Note: This interview took place before news broke that Obeidi is headed to the U.S.]
  • Help Obeidy out of Libya
    Jun 5, 2011
    The call was urgent, the news shocking: Qatar, a close US ally and supporter of the NATO campaign in Libya, had forced a Libyan woman who said she was raped onto a plane back to Libya.
more documents on this topic »