DOHA THE National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) has launched its annual campaign to raise awareness of workers’ rights under the slogan ‘Heal Your Rights’. The campaign will run until June 30.
Dr Mohammed bin Saif al Kuwari, a member of the National Human Rights Committee, said in a statement that the campaign’s goal was to make workers aware of their rights as guaranteed by the Qatari labour law.
He said the country’s law does not leave any stone unturned in its articles and regulations in terms of health, housing, transportation, vacations and other rights that should be enjoyed by all workers, whether they work in government or private institutions.
Dr Kuwari said the campaign particularly targets employers as the executors of workers’ rights.
He said, “We want our campaign to reach all authorities concerned with the movement of expatriate workers to Qatar so that all parties involved understand their rights as well as their duties because most of the cases received by the committee are caused by unfamiliarity with or lack of knowledge about Qatar’s labour law”.
From this standpoint, he explained that the campaign directly targets the workers, employers as well as recruitment agencies to address most of the problems that may arise among them from time to time.
He added that the commission has recently prepared and issued a guide about workers’ rights in the temporary housings on construction sites, pointing out that a group of authorities concerned participated in the preparation of the guide. According to him, the contributors included the representatives of the Ministry of Labour, the Supreme Council of Health and the Ministry of Interior’s General Directorate of Civil Defence as well as the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“The guide enshrines the continued commitment to protecting workers’ rights and helping improve the standards of workers’ housing in line with international standards,” Dr Kuwari said.
He also emphasised the responsibility of employers to provide workers’ accommodation that adhere to international labour standards when the nature of the project calls for sheltering workers on construction sites, taking into account the relevant recommendations of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
Dr Kuwari said the guide has been prepared in both Arabic and English and is due to be launched at a press conference in the next couple of days at the headquarters of the Committee before distribution to companies to assist them in the provision of technical specifications and standards for the accommodation of the workers.
He said that the step comes in line with the annual campaign organised by the committee and the International Workers’ Day.
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