QATAR'S BILATERAL LABOR AGREEMENTS - ALL POMP AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000088 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP, DRL/ILCSR LABOR FOR ILAB E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ELAB ECIN ECON SMIG IN ID BG CE, VM, NP, QA SUBJECT: QATAR'S BILATERAL LABOR AGREEMENTS - ALL POMP AND NO CIRCUMSTANCE ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Qatar has recently signed a number of bilateral labor agreements with South and Southeast Asian governments. Local and regional press have touted the agreements as benefiting the hundreds of thousands of unskilled and semi-skilled laborers and domestic workers in Qatar from those countries. In fact, however, the agreements are little more then window dressing to address the often appalling expatriate labor situation in Qatar. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) Since November 2007, Qatar's Minister of Labor and Social Affairs (MOLSA),Dr. Sultan bin Hassan Al-Dhabit Al-Doussari, has signed no fewer than six bilateral labor agreements or additional protocols with South and Southeast Asian countries, including India, Nepal, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. Post has requested copies of the agreements from the Government of Qatar (GOQ) and from the foreign missions in Qatar. To date, only the Nepalese Embassy has provided a copy of any draft agreement. The following summarizes press reporting and foreign embassy views of the agreements: INDIA: Additional labor protocol signed November 20, 2007 in New Delhi with Indian Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi. The agreement is said to extend provisions of the original 1985 Labor Agreement to cover domestic workers. It also expands the mandate of the Joint Committee for mutual labor issues. The Labor Attache at the Indian Embassy told us the bilateral agreement does not touch on work conditions or minimum salaries of workers. INDONESIA: Labor agreement signed January 21 in Doha with Indonesian Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Ir Erman Suparno. The agreement provides for a Joint Committee on Labor Cooperation to seek possible employment opportunities in Qatar for Indonesian workers. The official at the Indonesian Embassy in Doha responsible for labor issues told us he has not seen a copy of the labor agreement and could not provide any insights on it. BANGLADESH: Additional labor protocol signed January 6 in Dhaka with the Bangladeshi official in charge of Foreign Affairs, Labor and Expatriate Affairs, Iftikhar Chowdery. The Bangladeshi Ambassador to Qatar, Maroof Zaman, noted the additional protocol would increase the number of Bangladeshi workers in Qatar. The Labor Attache at the Bangladeshi Embassy told us he is unaware of any new protocol. SRI LANKA: Labor agreement signed January 9 in Colombo with Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Dr. Keheliya Rambukwelle. The agreement underscores the need work contracts that will guarantee basic rights and duties consistent with the Qatari Labor Law. The Labor Attache at the Sri Lankan Embassy told us he was informed that a labor agreement had been signed, but copies of it will only be released after ratification by the Sri Lankan Cabinet and Parliament. VIETNAM: Labor agreement signed January 11 in Hanoi with the Vietnamese Minister of Labor and War Invalids. The agreement notes that for Vietnamese to be employed in Qatar, a signed work contract between the employee and the employer outlining the main terms, conditions, specific obligations, and rights should be presented. The contract must not contravene the agreement or the Qatari Labor Law. The agreement with Vietnam also provides for a joint committee to oversee its implementation and regulate Vietnamese labor employment in Qatar. We were unable to obtain reaction from Vietnamese diplomats, as there is no Vietnamese diplomatic mission in Qatar. NEPAL: Additional labor protocol signed January 20 in Doha with Nepalese Minister of Labor and Transport Management Ramesh Lekhak. The protocol contains provisions for establishing a joint committee of member-experts from both countries to review labor and related issues. It reportedly states that if an employer terminates the services of a Nepalese worker during the contractual period without his consent, the employer must fulfill salary and legal DOHA 00000088 002 OF 002 obligations for the entire contractual period. The draft protocol provided to us by the Nepalese Embassy February 3, however, contradicted this by stating that workers in this situation would be paid only what they had accrued. The draft protocol shown to us also stated that Qatar retains the right to deport "any number of Nepalese workers" at the end of their contract period, or at any time, "if their presence in the State of Qatar becomes contrary to the public interest or national security of the state." ¶3. (SBU) We asked the Legal Department at the MOLSA January 31 for copies of the agreements. Rather than providing them, a legal advisor told us that the new agreements and protocols amounted to nothing new beyond obligations already stated in the 2004 Labor Law. ¶4. (SBU) COMMENT: The signing of the new labor agreements and protocols was widely covered in the local and regional press. Rather than providing new protections for the hundreds of thousands of foreign workers in the country, as press reports suggested, the agreements appear to reinforce GOQ control over the workforce and ensure continued Qatari access to cheap labor from abroad. We believe the recent spate of labor agreements was intended to give the appearance of real labor reform without actually delivering it. RATNEY