HE the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Dr Abdullah bin Saleh al-Khulaifi has said the ministry and all state entities are working hard to ensure the safety and rights of labourers in Qatar, noting that the government is trying to improve their conditions by building new housing and providing better conditions.
The minister made the remarks during an event at the Diplomatic Institute at the Foreign Ministry as part of the diplomatic salon, a Foreign Ministry initiative that brings state officials together with heads of accredited diplomatic missions to Doha to discuss important issues and present the reality in Qatar.
Al-Khulaifi said the ministry was using more than 200 inspectors to monitor the situation of workers and make sure the rights guaranteed to them by Qatari law were not violated, The number of inspectors, he said, would be increase to 300 soon.
He added that the ministry was working with home countries of workers to stop practices that harm them, pointing to co-operation with the Nepalese embassy, which resulted in the suspension of 55 companies that violated the Qatari law there.

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The minister said that holding the World Cup in Qatar made it necessary to improve the conditions of labour, unlike what, he said, was being reported in foreign media.
Al-Khulaifi noted that the presence of over 1.5mn residents was a huge challenge for Qatar but added that the country was up to it. He said that HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani had signed a decree stipulating that workers’ salaries must be transferred to their personal bank accounts without delay. The minister added that other amendments were made as well in labour-related laws to prevent the seizing of passports by sponsors, to guarantee the payment of salaries and to ensure that contracts between the two sides are not violated.
Al-Khulaifi said the fact that there are more than 1.5mn expats and thousands of projects in Qatar meant that it’s natural to have some violations. “We realise that our procedures were not completely implemented on the ground but we know that we are on the right track to eliminate these violations.”
The minister said the sponsorship law was currently under examination and had entered its legislative cycle, adding that the law was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Interior.
As for the time frame of issuing the law, the minister said it was not possible to give a certain date but added that the law had become one of Qatar’s commitments and, as it did in the past, he said, it would fulfil them.
Al-Khulaifi said the “sponsor” system will be abolished and replaced by a contractual agreement between the employer and the employee that ensured rights and duties.