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.
Seeking to better understand the risks of forced labour and human trafficking in the Thai seafood industry, Nestlé contracted Verité to conduct a focused investigation of six production sites in Thailand—three shrimp farms (one in Maha...Read More
Since 2010, FIDH (the International Federation for Human Rights) and Justiça nos Trilhos (JnT) have been working together on the human rights abuses of the steel industry in the state of Maranhão, in Brazil. In May 2011, FIDH and JnT, with Justiç...Read More
To find out more about how the SII has been experienced, the Expert Review gathered information from two surveys and 10 interviews with key stakeholders. There were 14 SSO (all US-based) and 10 FI survey respondents (seven US, two Canada, and on...Read More
Businesses are increasingly required to implement human rights due diligence processes and/or to report on how they manage human rights-related issues. In their third joint briefing, The Global Business Initiative on Human Rights and Clifford Chance...Read More
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