Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Qatar to abolish the exit visa system for greater autonomy to migrant workers. Qatar should immediately abolish its exit visa requirements, which exposes migrant workers to the risk of exploitation and abuse, the organisation said.

The exit visa system unfairly shackles foreign workers to their Qatari employers, opening them up to unfair treatment and exploitation, said Middle East director of HRW Sarah Leah. “Therefore, HRW is against the exit visa system which is associated to the Kafala (sponsorship) system,” she said, adding that due to the Kafala system employers have been taking undue advantage of workers.

“Qatari authorities have set up a system that can effectively allow employers to legally hold their current and former workers to a form of ransom,” said Leah. “People should be basically free to leave any country. Qatari authorities already have the power to stop people fleeing to avoid justice, so there is no reason they should give employers the power to keep their employees in Qatar.”

Human Rights Watch has documented how shortcomings in Qatar’s legal and regulatory framework are responsible for the abuse and exploitation of Qatar’s non-citizen workforce, who constitute over 85 per cent of the country’s population of 1.9 million.

Nepalis have also been suffering due to the exit visa system. “It is associated with the Kafala system, so we are demanding for its abolishment,” said migrant rights activist from Pravasi Nepali Coordination Committee Mahendra Pandey. More than 500,000 Nepalis are working in the destination and at least one-third of them have been victims of exploitation and abuse by employers due to the Kafala system.

HRW has noted Kafala as ‘modern day slavery’ in its 2011 report because the sponsor exploits workers under the guise of protection. Similarly, Amnesty International has also been building pressure on Gulf countries to abolish the practice.

“The problem is severe with women migrant workers because about 90 per cent of them work as domestic helps,” said president of Pourakhi — a non-governmental organisation working for women migrants — Manju Gurung. Domestic helps have been suffering from exploitation, abuse and even sexual exploitation.

According to UN Women report 2011, about 63,000 Nepali women are working in Saudi Arabia and 13,000 in Qatar. However, the Department of Foreign Employment’s records reveal that only 2,913 and 970 Nepali women have reached Qatar and Saudi Arabia, respectively, since 2007-08.

Currently, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are the only Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) countries with an exit visa system.

Other GCC countries have abolished the system.

Published on: 6 June 2013 | The Himalayan Times