This report uses Qatar as a case study to examine how the global public health crisis affected destitute migrants in the Middle East and how employers and the government responded. It also makes a series of reform recommendations that would promote human rights by improving workers’ economic and living conditions.
The report’s central findings are two- fold: After a slow start, the government of Qatar provided migrant workers with free, adequate healthcare in response to the pandemic. But foreign laborers suffered economically as a result of construction delays, wage reductions, terminated contracts, and deportations. The contrast between the government’s vigorous public health campaign and its failure to protect workers’ livelihoods is key. Qatar should address migrants’ economic needs with the same energy and resourcefulness illustrated by its efforts to stem the spread of Covid-19.
In recent years, there have been many reports of workers in supply chains being abused, exploited and even trafficked. Therefore, the expectation that businesses should carry out due diligence to address adverse impacts has grown considerably. As ...Read More
This work is part of a series of Forced Labour Evidence Briefs that seek to bring academic research to bear on calls to address the root causes of the phenomenon in global supply chains and catalyse systemic change. To do so, the Briefs consolidate ...Read More
This policy brief provides information and identifies a number of key recommendations to assist governments and other stakeholders in designing COVID-19 policy responses that can help to ensure the protection of migrant workers, as well as to inform...Read More
Together with the London Working Group, the Human Trafficking Foundation has produced the Referral pathway for adult victims to help Local Authorities improve their response to human trafficking and modern slavery, in particular the identification an...Read More
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