Sultan bin Hassan Al Dosari, Qatar's Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, has confirmed that the Qatari government and businessmen have no intention to dispense with the Egyptians working in Qatar or cut their wage, against the background of any political differences. Such measures are unlikely, even in light of the effects of the global financial crisis. In exclusive statements to Al-Masry Al-Youm on the sidelines of the International Labor Conference in Geneva, Al-Dosari said political differences had nothing to do with the Egyptian labor in Qatar. No single contract has been cancelled despite the repercussions of the global financial crisis which affected many countries around the world. The movement of the Arab and Egyptian labor in Qatar is still within its natural framework. If the salary of an Egyptian or Arab worker was cut, he/she should file a complaint to the Ministry of Labor, which will take the necessary legal action.
Bahrain has recently cancelled the Kafeel (sponsorship) system, whereby foreigners are "sponsored" by their employer who may seize their passport, control their movements, demand fees to quit before end of contract and prevent changing jobs. However, Minister Al-Dosari said this did not cause any embarrassment to Qatar or to other Arab country applying that system. Kafeel system or any other systems are only names, as he put it, to ensure that every party will receive its rights and do its duties.
A committee has been formed from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States to search for an alternative system to the currently-applied Kafeel system. The committee will file a report to the GCC Cabinet next November to study the abolition of this system. Al-Dosari denied that this system is a different kind of slavery, as it was described by international and Arab organizations. Although this system has been applied in the Gulf States for several years, foreign workers could move from a company to another under the existing labor law.
On the other hand, the Arab group participating in the International Labor Organization staged a protest in Geneva yesterday in solidarity with the Palestinian people and workers.
