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.
Since 2011, the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), the OECD, and the International Labour Organization (ILO) have been collaborating to organize the Annual Roundtable on Labor Migration in Asia. The 10th anniversary of this event was marked in...Read More
The purpose of this report is to learn lessons from a major modern slavery case in construction; review the factors that lead to the exploitative environments in the sector; explore the most effective ways that businesses can safeguard workers. O...Read More
Human trafficking is a crime and a human rights violation, with serious human rights and protection implications - and which is known to significantly amplify in times of wars, crisis and conflict. This is reflected in several reports published by U...Read More
2020 marked the five-year anniversary of the signing of the ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (the Convention). The ASEAN-Australia Counter Trafficking Programme (ASEAN ACT) is a 10-year partnership fu...Read More
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