Humanising migration and the role of state

Migration continues to be an important agenda due to its role in development. This is particularly true in the case of Qatar, a country well known for having a lot of migrants. Indeed, it is home to more than two million expatriates—comprising 88 percent of the country's total population. Of note, migrants constituted 94 percent of the total labour force, a ratio considered the highest in the world.  

The world has seen some notable reforms of late in Qatar which caught the attention of the international community, in general, and the International Labor Organization (ILO), International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), International Organization of Employers (ITO), Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) and Amnesty International (AI), in particular. For example, ILO described the reforms there, such as the removal of the "No Objection Certificate (NOC)", as the first of its kind in the gulf region, and AI praised the latest reform as a significant step towards protecting migrant workers.

By "humanising migration", I refer to and reflect on some of the rights of migrants enshrined in the international instruments, namely ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, 1998; Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951; Domestic Workers Convention, 2011; International Convention on the Protection on the Rights of All Migrants and Members of Their Families, 1990; Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970; Decent Work Agenda, 2008; and Global Compact for Migration, 2016.

The interplay between migration and development has long been in existence. The recent ethical imperative of the United Nations (UN)—no one left behind—obviates the need for improving the socio-economic condition of migrants to achieve some of the targets set in the Development Agenda 2030, mainly zero poverty and no hunger. We are fortunate enough to see the visibility of such thinking since US President Franklin D Roosevelt in 1937 called for building the economy from the bottom-up, focusing on the forgotten man in the bottom of the economic pyramid (BOP). Then, management scholar CK Prahalad popularised the concept in 2004 and lamented that 4 billion people lived at the BOP earning only USD 2 per day. It goes without saying that migrants constituted 3.64 percent of the world population last year and most of them live at the BOP. Leaving them behind, the UN targets are unattainable at least partially, if not fully. Moreover, the current severe economic crisis sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic desperately calls for standing by migrants.

Qatar has set a milestone in humanising migration. Some of the notable initiatives are as follows:

Adoption of minimum wage

Qatar adopted non-discriminatory minimum wage for workers including domestic aids under Law No 17, 2020. It fixed QAR 1,000 per month as a basic wage, QAR 500 for accommodation expenses, and 300 QAR for food, unless the employer provides accommodation and food. Such positive reforms were happening just as the retrenchment policy due to the economic crisis created by Covid-19 began worldwide. It will surely increase the income of poorly paid migrants and thus help them to break the vicious circle of poverty, ultimately contributing to the nation's achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Earlier, Qatar introduced Wage Protection System (WPS) to ensure timely and regular payment of wages to the workers.

Abolition of the kafala system.

"Kafala" is an Arabic word which stands for sponsorship. Under this system, migrant workers must obtain a NOC from his current employer prior to applying for the change of sponsorship. The recent reform declared on August 30 dismantled the system by removing the requirement of NOC. Workers are no longer required to submit NOC for getting approval of change of sponsorship but they need to give prior notice to the existing company. Moreover, under the kafala system, workers were required to obtain exit permits to leave Qatar which was declared null and void in September, 2018. Coupled with the termination of exit permit, the abolition of NOC has put an end to the kafala system. Allowing mobility of workers will enable them to find better positions which would be vital to create a dynamic and skilled labour market. Companies will also have the compassion to create decent working environment to retain the existing manpower and their talents.

Promotion of good governance

Good governance is of paramount importance for the development of any country. Accountability and justice are the cornerstones of good governance. To bring accountability and justice within the migration governance, Qatar introduced a smart system in receiving and disposing work related complaints. Workers havebeen enabled to lodge complaints online and time bound disposal of the complaints has been established which is quite similar to the Citizen's Charter introduced by John Major in Britain—Labour Department must settle the dispute in seven days. If unsuccessful, it is forwarded to a dispute settlement committee which is obliged to settle it in three weeks.One worker, Mohammad Hossain, explained his case: He used to work in a company for about 15 years but suddenly was terminated without his service benefits being given. He complained to the Labour Department which forwarded it to the committee. The committee ordered the company to pay his service benefits. The worker is highly satisfied with the order.

Healthcare facility

Qatar takes good care of its residents. Patients need to pay only 20 percent of total cost in government hospitals. During Covid-19 crisis, it provided healthcare support to everyone irrespective of nationality and immigration status (both documented and undocumented). Before Covid-19, Qatar's government provided free treatment to many patients. For example, one Bangladeshi patient suffering from blood cancer was nurtured in Qatar for about 16 months without any charge. Another Bangladeshi patient who had no residency permits was hospitalised due to severe illness. Before being sent back to Bangladesh, the hospital authority provided the necessary treatment and medicine for one week before discharging him from the hospital without charging a fee.

The role of the state

The role of the state in development has always beena centre of debate. The neo-liberalist school, for example, upholds that the State is a part of the problem, not the solution. At the same time, the governance notion, especially, proposed by RAW Rhodes, proposed for limiting the scope and forms of public intervention, while speaking about hollowing out of the State. Conversely, the World Bank (WB) in its report in 1997 put special emphasis on strong and efficient State institutions in development. In 2000, the WB in its report identified poorly functioning public sector and weak governments as constraints of growth and development in many developing countries. Therefore, the role of the State in development should not be overlooked.

Qatar is a positive example of State led reforms and development. Theoretically, the political system is the supra system of a country and other systems fall under the political system. Arguably, the success of reforms is dependent to a great extent on the efficacy of the political system. The recent reform efforts are a part of Qatar's National Vision 2030 as mentioned by Othman Fakhroo, Minister of Administrative Development, Labour & Social Affairs (ADLSA): "The State of Qatar is committed to creating a modern and dynamic labour market in line with Qatar Vision 2030." In fact, the ADLSA is responsible for materialising the Vision 2030 and the ministry took a dynamic role in this case. It is important to note here that Qatar signed an agreement with the ILO in 2018 through which it became the first country among the gulf countries to allow setting up an ILO office. The ILO office in Qatar played a role in putting forward such reforms. Furthermore, Qatar is going to host the FIFA World Cup in 2022. FIFA wanted to maintain the highest standard in its operations. From a global governance perspective, the fulfilment of FIFA's criteria also acted as a motivating factor which pushed for such measures.

Muhammad Mustafizur Rahaman, Ph.D is currently Counsellor (Labour), at the Embassy of the People's Republic of Bangladesh to the State of Qatar.