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.
The publication is based on the accumulated experience of the ten companies in the BLIHR on implementing human rights. This experience is supplemented with practical examples of human rights implementation. In detail as a joint product of the Bu...Read More
Findings from this research expand current knowledge about the various reasons why trafficking and exploitation persist in the Thai fishing industry, despite various state and corporate actions to prevent and address it. The main recommendation...Read More
A guide for religious groups to take action to protect children from online sexual exploitation (OCSE). It contains an overview of the issue, information on the perspectives of different religions on child protection, and step-by-step tips to take a...Read More
The United Nations declared 2021 the International year for the Elimination of Child Labour, an effort to eradicate this form of abuse and exploitation, a milestone in reaching the Sustainable Development Goal target 8.7. Worldwide, an estimated 152...Read More
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