Qatar the worst in the fight against the crown

Last update: Sunday 10 Ramadan 1441 AH – May 03, 2020 KSA 11:17 – GMT 08:17
Published in: Sunday 10 Ramadan 1441 AH – May 03, 2020 KSA 10:10 AM – GMT 07:10 AM

Source: Washington – Bandar Al-Doshi

The American Institute for the Defense of Democracies has accused Qatar of worker abuse amid the outbreak of the Corona virus, as Qatar has become the country with the highest prevalence of the virus in relation to its population. The report revealed that Qatar still keeps workers in miserable conditions under the guise of fighting the virus.

As the Covid-19 epidemic worsened in Qatar, the country’s miserable human rights record returned to the limelight, according to the report. Doha closed crowded labor camps that house migrant workers and left them with few options to protect their health amid the outbreak of the disease, which is among the worst in the world in terms of per capita.

As of April 30, Qatar had reported 13,409 coronavirus cases and 10 deaths. The number of cases nearly doubled every eight days during April, making the country now one of the highest cases per capita in the world, compared to Spain and Italy.

The number of daily infections in Qatar is increasing significantly as authorities reported 518 new cases on April 21, 761 new cases on April 24, and 929 new cases on April 26. After announcing testing of nearly 86,000 people and “doubling” their efforts to track the transmission of the virus, the Ministry of Public Health predicts that the epidemic in Qatar has reached a peak and that the infection rate will soon begin to decline.

While Qatar’s initial cases come from Iran, authorities attribute the majority of the new cases to foreign workers who contacted infected people. In mid-March, Qatar closed an industrial zone in Doha that is mainly inhabited by foreign workers. The measure effectively surrounded hundreds of thousands of workers in poor condition, as a single room could hold eight to 10 men.

After extending the closing period on April 1, Doha announced last week that the government would gradually lift its ban, but has not yet done so.

Qatar’s closure of the Doha industrial zone reflects a broader trend. Like other Gulf countries, Qatar relies heavily on foreign workers for the majority of its workforce, especially in sectors such as construction and local services. About 2 million foreign workers in the country represent more than 88% of the population and 95% of the workforce.

While Qatari citizens enjoy comfortable jobs in the public sector, foreign workers are subject to conditions of exploitation, low wages, inadequate protection of workers and even forced labor and human trafficking, according to the institute.

This pattern of abuse has gone from the Corona virus to the crisis. In mid-March, for example, Qatari authorities forcibly detained hundreds of Nepalese workers under the guise of the Covid-19 tests, and deported them without the need to allow them to collect their property or fees.

The recent closure threatens to trigger a crisis given the poor living conditions of workers. Authorities prevented workers from leaving the field or entering the field, and police were deployed outside. As one worker put it: “The situation is getting worse every day … the friends who live there are panicking.”

Although the emirate has allocated more than $ 800 million to help companies pay their employees’ wages and shorten the workday to suppress the spread of the virus, many rights of foreign workers remain an open issue, especially given the poor Qatar’s record in this area.