Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have repeated their commitment to secure migrant rights during an International Labour Organisation conference in Geneva. Labour ministers of GCC countries have promised to provide decent work for migrant workers, the Bahrain News Agency reported. 

The labour ministers stressed that GCC countries will continue developing a suitable work environment to create more work opportunities, and achieve decent work measures. 

“GCC countries will achieve international labour standards by either reforming the national labour laws or adopting international practices,” they assured director general of ILO Guy Ryder. GCC will address all the issues regarding decent work for migrant workers, said labour minister of Bahrain and current head of Council of Ministers of Labour in the GCC countries Dr Majeed Al Alawi. 

“GCC members will adopt tripartite principle to secure workers’ rights considering the stage of economic and social development experienced by each state,” he said. 

Bahrain is the most liberal country among GCC nations and has adopted labour laws guaranteeing equal rights to migrant workers. In August 2012, Bahrain issued the labour law in the private sector, which includes more protection for workers, and developed a pioneering initiative to include domestic labour within the law. 

The labour ministers expressed the willingness of GCC countries to provide all the support and assistance for the organisation to reflect those initiatives on the ground out of the GCC keenness on the ongoing modernisation and development for the policies and procedures. 

More than two million Nepalis are working in GCC countries, so changes in labour laws of the countries are important to Nepal. Adaptation of migrant workers’ rights and decent work provision of ILO will reduce the problems of migrant workers by half. 

A majority of the migrant workers have been suffering due to the Kafala (sponsorship) system prevalent in GCC countries but the council is not ready to abolish it. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has portrayed the system as ‘modern day slavery’ in its report in 2011. 

Under the Kafala system, an employer is able to exploit workers by cheating on salary and other benefits, and workers can even be sexually abused. Sexual abuse of domestic helps is rampant in Gulf countries, as they are not protected by the laws of the land. Domestic workers in GCC are like slaves, HRW had said in its report.

Published on: 17 June 2013 | The Himalayan Times