Women migrant workers in Qatar facing the invisibilisation of an exploitative and violent system

With the Football World Cup, Qatar is currently at the centre of all debates, whether in terms of respect for the environment, the rights of LGBTQIA+ people or women. The World Cup has brought to light the inhuman and degrading conditions in which migrant workers have worked to build the various sports structures. However, the issue of migrant women has received little attention. Faced with this invisibilisation, it is appropriate to ask who the domestic workers in Qatar are and why the violence they go through is invisible.

Migrant workers: an identity carrying discrimination

In Qatar, domestic workers are racialised migrant women, who come from different parts of the world but mostly from sub-Saharan Africa. These three characteristics are vectors of discrimination in the country.

The first factor is the gender of these workers. Women’s rights in Qatar are making progress, but remain relatively discriminatory: for example, women cannot give Qatari nationality to their children^[1]Human Right watch (2018). Qatar, Events of 2018, https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/qatar , they must have their marriage validated by a male guardian ( Montigny, A. (2018). Désordre dans la famille : le divorce au Qatar, Chroniques Yéménites, vol 10, DOI: 10.4000/cy.3757 )) . According to the UN, these discriminatory laws have a stronger impact on women based on “their origin, race and ethnicity”^[2]Conseil des droits de l’Homme (27 avril 2020), Rapport de la Rapporteuse spéciale sur les formes contemporaines de racisme, de discrimination raciale, de xénophobie et de l’intolérance qui y … Continue reading”. In this regard, the fact that domestic workers come from the African continent raises questions about their place in Qatari society. Qatar is a country of many nationalities, welcoming more than seventy different nationalities. According to a report by Amnesty International^[3]Amnesty International (2021), « Why do you want to rest ? » : ongoing abuse of domestic workers in Qatar, https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/MDE2231752020ENGLISH.pdf in 2020 around 173,000 migrants are working in Qatar. However, not all nationalities are considered the same. However, not all nationalities are considered in the same way. According to UN experts, sub-Saharan African women are presumed to be sexually available and inferior to men ^[4]Montigny, A. (2018). Désordre dans la famille : le divorce au Qatar, Chroniques Yéménites, vol 10, DOI: 10.4000/cy.3757´. As a result, they occupy positions with little social gratification. Finally, Qatar is an economically and racially stratified society. This means that white and black migrant women do not suffer the same discrimination, and black migrant women are exposed to far more discrimination because of their skin colour and their precarious situation.

These three vectors expose racialised migrant women to violence but above all to extreme dehumanisation, particularly when they take up their “post” in homes or hotels.The main concern is the physical, verbal and sexual abuse to which they are subjected. Numerous testimonies gathered by international NGOs attest to the brutality against them. The regularity of the violence leads to real harassment of domestic workers. In the testimonies, they are regularly compared to animals and treated as such^[5]Amnesty International (2021). « Why do you want to rest ? » : ongoing abuse of domestic workers in Qatar, pp 47-48., as if they “belonged” to their employers. This raises the question of modern-day slavery. ^[6]ONU (1953), Convention relative à l’esclavage, https://www.ohchr.org/fr/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/slavery-convention .

Given the lack of consideration and the violence to which these domestic workers are exposed by “working”, what about their rights?

The question of the total control of employers and the weak protection of labour law during the World Cup

The workers hired for the World Cup in Qatar were recruited through the Kafala system. This was originally an adoption system, but has now been hijacked.. It’s a sponsorship system^[7]Robinson K (2022, 18 novembre), What Is the Kafala System ?, Council on Foreign Relations, https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-kafala-system which is very present in the Gulf countries.

Domestic workers are recruited by agencies in their own countries, who offer them the prospect of a better life in Qatar: decent wages, the chance to go abroad, attractive working conditions. In reality, however, they work in homes or hotels where the employers have all the power.Of the hundreds of women interviewed by Amnesty International, 83% have had their passports confiscated^[8]Amnesty International (2021). « Why do you want to rest ? » : ongoing abuse of domestic workers in Qatar, https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/MDE2231752020ENGLISH.pdf 55% were not paid, with very long delays or below what was expected^[9]Amnesty International (2021). « Why do you want to rest ? » : ongoing abuse of domestic workers in Qatar, https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/MDE2231752020ENGLISH.pdf . Without a passport, they are completely dependent on the goodwill of their employers and risk, if they flee, being declared illegal. When they come to Qatar they do not need any visa because the employer acts as guarantor, they are said to be “visa free”^[10]Pessoa, S. (2020, aout 20). Ethiopian Labor Migrants and the “Free Visa” System in Qatar, Human Organization, vol 73 (3):205–213, https://doi.org/10.17730/humo.73.3.l1r140q0l35051t3 . While this may seem positive, “the extreme power and control exercised by the employer under the Kafala system has been likened to conditions similar to human trafficking for labor exploitation^[11]Aoun  R, (2020). COVID-19 Impact on Female Migrant Domestic Workers in the Middle East. Inter-Agency Standing Committee, … Continue reading”.

Full powers lead to extreme domination and exploitation. According to the Amnesty International report, some 86% of these people work more than 14 hours, with no real breaks, and 85% have no day off^[12]Amnesty International (2021). « Why do you want to rest ? » : ongoing abuse of domestic workers in Qatar. Labour law does not seem to apply, and in the midst of the World Cup, a number of practices have been singled out, in particular hotel employers who ask for sexual favours and, when they refuse, charge them with work^[13]Donova, L. (2022, novembre). Female migrant workers speak out about harassment in Qatar’s World Cup hotels, The Guardian, … Continue reading. In addition, the lack of legal protection exposes domestic workers to increasingly commonplace violence and sexual exploitation.

This dilemma could be avoided if protective legislation were put in place. However, the issue of labour law is complex in Qatar. Since Law No.15 on domestic workers was passed in 2017, some steps have been taken, such as the requirement for an employment contract, a minimum rest day of at least 20 hours and a ban on working during rest hours.^[14]Anonyme .(2020, 15 novembre). Are you a domestic worker in Qatar? Know your legal rights her, Qatarday,  https://www.qatarday.com/are-you-a-domestic-worker-in-qatar-know-your-legal-rights-here . In addition, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has been working with Qatar for several years to improve working conditions for domestic workers. This led to two reforms in 2020 that allow domestic workers to change jobs without their boss’s permission, with one month’s notice and a minimum wage of 230 euros^[15]Amnesty International. (2020, 30 aout). Les nouvelles lois visant à protéger les travailleurs·euses migrants vont dans le bon sens, … Continue reading. It is the first Gulf country to do so ^[16]Amnesty International. (2020, aout 30). Les nouvelles lois visant à protéger les travailleurs·euses migrants vont dans le bon sens, … Continue reading. However, despite this progress, the recent testimonies of women workers in hotels during the World Cup raise questions about the silence of the international community.

The need for global awareness

While the situation of domestic workers in Qatar is a cause for concern, it remains little discussed and even absent from the debates surrounding the World Cup. However, most of the reports cited were published several years ago, so the facts and practices are well known^[17]Donovan, L. (2022, 17 novembre). Female migrant workers speak out about harassment in Qatar’s World Cup hotels, The Fuller Project, … Continue reading.

For example, according to a report published in July 2021 by the Business and Human Rights resources centre, luxury hotels^[18]Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. (Juillet, 2021). Checked Out Migrant worker abuse in qatar’s World Cup luxury hotels, … Continue reading are aware of violations of human rights and labour law, but have no transparency and do not seem to want to remedy the situation of migrant workers. Of the hundred or so hotels approved by FIFA^[19]Quatar 2022, Liste Hotels,  https://www.qatar2022.qa/book/en/hotels,all the testimonies published in The Guardian come from female workers employed in these hotels^[20]Donova, L. (2022, novembre 1). Female migrant workers speak out about harassment in Qatar’s World Cup hotels, The Guardian, … Continue reading. Yet FIFA and Qatar claim to be doing everything they can to ensure effective protection of human rights, allowing for possible avenues of redress such as company audits^[21]Donovan, L. (2022, 17 novembre). Female migrant workers speak out about harassment in Qatar’s World Cup hotels, The Fuller Project, … Continue reading or complaints platforms^[22]Qatar 2022, Platefrom, https://www.bkms-system.net/bkwebanon/report/clientInfo?cin=gTf9nd&c=-1&language=eng. However, in view of the conditions described above, it seems clear that workers are reluctant, if at all, to come forward and reveal their identity. Furthermore, given the large number of workers, it is impossible to monitor everything and therefore to protect all employees efficiently^[23]Mills, A. (2022, octobre). Qatar to step up labour inspections during World Cup – Union, Reuters, … Continue reading.

Despite this work, the issue of domestic workers is still relatively invisible in the political arena. The international community has reacted very little to these reports and has not condemned FIFA, which, despite having spoken out on the issue of human rights, continues to partner with hotels that do not respect them^[24]Equidem (2022). “We work like robots” : Discrimination and Exploitation of Migrant Workers in FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Hotel, … Continue reading This lack of interest in women workers is questionable in view of the many articles and statements that have appeared on the issue of migrant workers involved in the construction of infrastructure and hotels. Countries can take action by demanding, for example, that their teams stay in hotels that respect human and labour rights, and by encouraging supporters to do the same.

On a broader scale, the issue of women migrant workers in the world needs to be considered collectively. On a regional scale, the ILO’s work could in future be extended to all the Gulf countries to provide better protection for women migrant workers. It takes work, but the lives and integrity of thousands of women depend on it.

The statements in this article are the sole responsibility of the author.

To quote this article : Clara Dlhaye. (2023). Women migrant workers in Qatar facing the invisibilisation of an exploitative and violent system. Gender in Geopolitics Institute. https://igg-geo.org/?p=14734&lang=en