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.
In 2020, the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) initiated a research project to document migrant and trafficked women’s experiences with social and economic inclusion. Some of the questions we sought to answer included: wha...Read More
Trafficking in persons is a serious crime that undermines the dignity and liberty of its victims. Every year, thousands of women, men, and children fall into the hands of traffickers, in their own countries and abroad. Almost every country in the wo...Read More
This report is the first independent review of the Recovery Needs Assessment, the mechanism through which, since 2019, survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking in England and Wales have their support needs assessed and provided for. Th...Read More
With the global refugee crisis showing no signs of abating, multinational companies need to consider how their supply chain interacts with refugees, who are often more vulnerable to forced labor when they seek out work in a new country. Combating F...Read More
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