INTERNATIONAL

LABOUR ORGANISATION
About ILO

The Governing Body of the ILO decided at its 283rd Session in March 2002 to place on the agenda of
the 92nd Session (2004) of the International Labour Conference a general discussion on migrant
workers based on an “integrated approach”.

Its agenda is to include:

● labour migration in an era of globalisation;

● policies and structures for more orderly migration for employment;

● improving migrant worker protection through standard setting.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has a tripartite governing structure that brings together
governments, employers, and workers of 187 member States, to set labour standards, develop policies
and devise programmes promoting decent work for all women and men. Though governments have
twice as many representatives as the other two groups.

Ten of the titular government seats are permanently held by States of chief industrial importance:
Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and
the United States.

How does the ILO function

Unlike other UN agencies, ILO has maintained its unique tripartite structure giving voice not only to
governments but also employers and workers. It promotes a social dialogue between trade unions and
employers in formulating and implementing national policy on social and economic issues. The ILO’s
Secretariat has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and a global network of technical experts and
field offices in more than 40 countries. The Governing Body is the executive council of the ILO and
meets three times a year in Geneva. The annual International Labour Conference can be nicknamed an
international parliament of labour because it adopts new international labour standards and approves
the ILO’s work plan and budget. Each member State is represented by a delegation consisting of two
government delegates, an employer delegate, a worker delegate, and their respective advisers.
Employer and Worker delegates are nominated in agreement with the most representative national
organisations of employers and workers. Every delegate has the same rights, and all can express
themselves freely and vote as they wish.

So it happens that worker and employer delegates sometimes vote against their government or against
each other. This diversity of viewpoints, however, does not prevent decisions being adopted by very
large majorities, or in some cases even unanimously. Many of the government representatives are
cabinet ministers responsible for labour affairs in their own countries. Heads of State and prime
ministers also take the floor at the Conference. International organisations, both governmental and
others, attend as observers.

Work is the main reason for migrants to be in the Gulf countries like the UAE, Saudi Arabia and
Qatar and this is why their judgment in this matter is essential. Asked to evaluate their working
conditions on a scale from 1 to 10, 35 percent of the migrants gave a score of 7, 37 per cent a score of
5 or 6, and 27 per cent a score of 4 or below.

Yet, there is a widespread sense among the migrants that their working and living conditions are
suboptimal:

• Fifty per cent of the interviewed workers consider their workload too heavy for the income it
brings
• Sixty-six per cent of the interviewed male workers and 27 per cent of the interviewed female
workers reported unpaid sick leaves
• While doing as much overtime as possible to compensate for a low base salary would be a
necessity (particularly for workers in the construction sector and drivers), non-payment of
overtime is a frequent form of exploitation
• Only the fact that wages are high in comparison with home countries makes hard and difficult
working conditions acceptable in the eyes of some of the interviewed workers

In the Gulf countries, studies on migrant workers have mainly focused on the kafala system in force in
all GCC states and the various forms of exploitation it produces, particularly in the context of migrant
domestic workers. Further studies are required to understand the living and working conditions of
other low-income migrant workers and document the following aspects.

Illegal/unethical recruitment- Migrant exploitation is initially rooted in the origin countries where
brokers impose illegal recruitment charges contributing to migrant workers’ vulnerability and debt
bondage.
Contract substitution- is not only a critical factor of the exploitation of migrant workers’ rights and
welfare but also a product of the state’s failure to enforce existing labour laws and legislation in the
host country. The UAE’s construction and hospitality sectors are plagued with contract substitution
practices. While the UAE government has amended its laws to stop contract substitution (Ministerial
Resolution 764), such practices seem to continue.

Living conditions Substandard- living conditions—lack of healthcare protection, poor housing,

overcrowded accommodation, inadequate sewage, unsanitary living and food preparation, low-quality
drinking water—have been denounced in connection with the government’s failure to monitor,
inspect, and protect migrant workers’ human rights and welfare.

Working situation- Working conditions have been extensively denounced as poor and unsafe. In the
UAE, practices such as passport confiscation, illegal deduction of wages, or failure to pay overtime
work have been evidenced.

Worker’s access to information- The lack of pre-departure and post-arrival orientation programmes
and the limited or non-existent access to information about labour laws and regulations exacerbate
migrant workers’ exploitation in the Gulf countries. Bureaucratic obstacles hamper the
implementation of such programmes.

Access to justice- Migrant worker’s access to justice is limited by the kafala system as well as by
their limited knowledge of dispute resolution systems and weak command of the Arabic language,
though the governments of these countries have taken certain steps to rectify this issue.

For example- UAE government has taken initiatives to improve the situation in the framework of the
Abu Dhabi Dialogue (ADD). Kafala reform has not been a direct subject of ADD discussions and is
not recognised as one of the current priority areas. However, the ADD is working on a
Comprehensive Information and Orientation Programme (CIOP), which is relevant to the preceding
point (i.e., workers’ access to information). Regarding all these issues, there is a dearth of knowledge
based on large scale surveys. This is particularly true in these regions where data are not made
available and legislation puts dissuasive obstacles to independent statistical surveys in the population.

Root causes–

● Poor conditions of work and substantial occupational safety and health deficits combined with
weak labour inspection in migrant-intensive sectors such as construction and domestic work;

● Non-inclusion or only partial inclusion of certain categories of migrant workers, such as

domestic workers, in labour laws – while a number of countries in the region have adopted
 separate laws regulating the domestic work sector, the protections afforded are often inferior
to those provided in the labour law;

● Limited access to justice, weak and inefficient dispute settlement mechanisms and absence of
compensation schemes; and

● Limited or no freedom of association in some countries and inability of migrant workers to

bargain collectively.

CASE STUDY

“World Cup 2022: How has Qatar treated foreign workers?” (SOURCE: BBC)

The football fans who will soon arrive in Qatar for the World Cup finals will stay in hotels and watch
matches in stadiums which were built by tens of thousands of migrant workers.

Qatar has come under intense scrutiny for the way it treats these workers.

How many foreign workers have worked on World Cup projects?

Qatar has built seven stadiums for the World Cup finals as well as a new airport, metro system, series
of roads and about 100 new hotels.

An entire city has been constructed around the stadium which will host the final match.

Qatar's government says that 30,000 foreign laborers were hired just to build the stadiums. Most come
from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and the Philippines.

● Why is Qatar under fire ahead of the world cup?

● Awarding Qatar the World Cup a mistake - Blatter

How many foreign workers have died in Qatar?

In February 2021, the Guardian said 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh
and Sri Lanka had died in Qatar since it won its World Cup bid.

The number is based on figures provided by the countries' embassies in Qatar.

However, the Qatar government has said the total is misleading, because not all the deaths recorded
were of people working on World Cup-related projects.

It said that many of those who died had worked in Qatar for several years, and could have died from
old age or other natural causes.
The government said its accident records showed that between 2014 and 2020, there were 37 deaths
among labourers at World Cup stadium construction sites, only three of which were "work-related".

However, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) says this is an underestimate. Qatar doesn't
count deaths from heart attacks and respiratory failure as work-related - even though these are
common symptoms of heatstroke, brought on from doing heavy labour in very high temperatures.

It has compiled its own figures for World Cup related incidents, collected from government-run
hospitals and ambulance services in Qatar.

It says 50 foreign labourers died and more than 500 others were seriously injured in 2021 alone, while
another 37,600 suffered mild to moderate injuries.

BBC Arabic has also gathered evidence which suggests Qatar's government has under-reported deaths
amongst foreign labourers.

“Life at 50C: Qatar accused of under-reporting deaths in Gulf's killer heat”

How are foreign workers treated?

Ever since Qatar won the rights to host the World Cup in 2010, human rights groups have criticised its
treatment of foreign workers.

In 2016, Amnesty International accused Qatari companies of using forced labour.

It said many workers lived in squalid accommodation, were forced to pay huge recruitment fees and
had wages withheld and their passports confiscated.

Since 2017, the government has introduced measures to protect foreign labourers from working in
very hot weather, limit their working hours, and improve the conditions in workers' camps.

However, in a 2021 report, campaign group Human Rights Watch said foreign workers were still
suffering from "punitive and illegal wage deductions", and faced "months of unpaid wages for long
hours of gruelling work".

Qatari companies used to operate a system called "kafala", under which they sponsored foreign
workers to come to the country but then prevented them from leaving their jobs.

Under pressure from groups such as the ILO, Qatar's government abolished the practice, but Amnesty
International says companies still put pressure on labourers to stop them switching employers.
It warned that progress on labour reforms "must not grind to a halt once the [World Cup] roadshow
leaves Doha".

What has Qatar's government said about foreign workers' rights?

Working in conjunction with the ILO, the Qatari government has introduced a number of reforms.

These include a wage protection scheme designed to ensure employers pay their staff on time.

A government spokesperson told the BBC its reforms are improving the working conditions of most
foreign labourers in Qatar.

"Significant progress to ensure the reforms are effectively enforced has been made," said the
spokesperson.

"The number of rule-breaking companies will continue to decline as enforcement measures take
hold."

CUES FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

● Labour Laws in Gulf countries as well as your respective portfolios

● Countries with better Labour laws and how they can be taken as models for labour
management

● Potential Solutions suggested by countries

● Overall Impact of poor working conditions on the labourers

Questions a Resolution must Address

● How should countries reshape or strengthen their internal social security system in order to
be able to include migrant workers in the provision of benefits?

● What is the role of the ILO in promoting bilateral and multilateral agreements between
countries? And how can it do so?

● How can cooperation among countries and sharing of information be achieved?

● What can be included in the ILO’s existing directive to expand it and cover matters that have
not been addressed previously

● What actions can be taken to the Less Economically Developed Countries to increase the
influx of migrant labourers in the countries?