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 report presents preliminary findings from the first phase of data collection of the Meneshachin ‘Our Departure’ qualitative study (August 2020-May 2021) conducted by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in collabo...Read More
Multi-agency partnership working is often highlighted as an essential aspect of the UK public policy response to modern slavery. The Home Office’s (2014) Modern Slavery Strategy emphasises that effective partnership work is ‘crucial’ and must ...Read More
Right now, climate change is negatively affecting many of the most vulnerable people in the poorest countries in the world. A combination of sudden-onset disasters and slow-onset events are having a destabilising effect on urban and, in particular, ...Read More
Human trafficking and exploitation are crimes that prey on the most vulnerable in society, both within Scotland and across the world. They are abuses of human rights that have life-changing negative impacts for victims. A Corporate Group has been...Read More
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