Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee: More than 400,000 workers have been able to change their employers since the abolition of the sponsorship system

Her Excellency Mrs. Maryam bint Abdullah Al-Attiyah, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Committee, confirmed that more than four hundred thousand workers have been able to change their employers since the abolition of the sponsorship system in the State of Qatar. Her Excellency stressed, during a meeting with HE Mrs. Agnes Callamard, Secretary-General of Amnesty International, in the British capital, London, that the committee’s reports and its monitoring of the conditions of workers’ rights in Qatar and follow-up to statistics showed the extent of development in protecting workers’ rights in Qatar, noting that the right to Changing the employer has become a reality for hundreds of thousands of expatriate workers. The head of the National Human Rights Committee added that despite this development, from the committee’s point of view, and through the petitions it received and the monitored statistics, there are some challenges that can be overcome during the coming period. Her Excellency expressed the committee’s praise for the efforts of the Ministry of Labor to protect wages, and the efforts of the labor dispute settlement committees, as well as the issuance of Law No. 18 of 2018 to establish a fund to support and secure workers, and the significant and important role played by the fund in paying arrears of wages, and providing humanitarian, social, health and food support to vulnerable workers. in certain circumstances. Al-Attiyah indicated that one of the recent procedural developments was the launch of the Ministry of Labor "The single platform for complaints and communications" It is available to all workers electronically, pointing out that workers can resort to the Labor Department to settle disputes, and the Department refers disputes to dispute settlement committees if they are unable to resolve them amicably. The head of the National Human Rights Committee, during her meeting with the Secretary-General of Amnesty International, expressed the committee’s desire and aspiration for greater cooperation in the field of "cases"and exchange of information, including sharing and commenting on reports.