Prompted by international scrutiny of working conditions on flagship projects in Qatar and the UAE, in 2016, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre surveyed construction companies on their approach to safeguarding migrant workers’ rights in both countries.
Two years on and with a second survey, the findings show that while a consistent but small group of construction companies demonstrate real commitment to tackling the risks to migrant workers in their operations, the overwhelming majority operate with high risks to human rights and continued disregard for workers’ welfare. In both years, more than 70% of surveyed companies did not respond and over 60% did not have a public commitment to human rights.
This briefing analyses the survey responses and public human rights commitments of construction companies with current projects in the region and makes recommendations to companies, clients and governments to advance the rights of migrant workers.
An overview of the risks to migrant workers on construction projects across the Gulf. Migrant workers make up between 60% and 90% of the workforce in the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Low-wage construction workers are at...
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre has quizzed 100 construction companies operating in Qatar and the UAE on the measures they are taking to stop exploitation of migrant workers. Only 22 responded, indicating a shocking level of inaction. Despite increasing...
This report gives an insight into the link between corporate practices in the Arabian Gulf’s engineering and construction sector and the recruitment – in South Asian countries like India and Bangladesh – of many of the migrant workers who staff the industry’s projects.
This research has been carried out by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and Humanity Research Consultancy (HRC) in partnership with Winrock International, funded by USAID. It builds on earlier research on Trafficking in Persons su...Read More
Modern slavery is an umbrella term that covers: all situations of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave, because of threats, violence, coercion, abuse of power or deception. Modern slavery sits at the extreme end of a spectrum o...Read More
Trafficking in human beings is defined as a situation whereby a person’s predicament is used to trap them in an exploitative situation. This can take various forms and occurs in different areas: • Exploitative employment relationships â€...Read More
To reduce the risk to workers displaced due to the war in Ukraine, ETI established a working group with its members shortly after the Russian invasion, in early Spring 2022. The aim of the working group has been to facilitate knowledge and intel...Read More
2025 © Copyright, RESPECT International. All Rights Reserved. Website Disclaimer | Privacy Policy
