Dokumento detalye

18. The Committee is deeply concerned about reports of widespread torture or ill- treatment and abuse of migrant workers, in particular under the sponsorship system (kafeel), constraints on lodging complaints against their employers and the lack of information on cases in which sponsors were punished for torture or ill-treatment of migrant workers. The Committee notes the concerns raised by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD/C/QAT/CO/13-16, para. 15) that, despite the legal provisions prohibiting conduct such as passport and wage-withholding by sponsors, the fundamental nature of the sponsorship system increases the dependency of the migrant workers on sponsors, rendering them vulnerable to various forms of exploitation and abuses. In addition, the Committee regrets the absence of labour legislation that protects domestic work, while noting that a draft law on domestic workers is presently under review. The Committee regrets the lack of information provided by the State party on complaints of violence made by migrant domestic workers during the reporting period and whether these led to investigations and prosecutions of perpetrators, particularly in the light of information before the Committee reflecting numerous allegations by migrant workers of physical abuse, sexual violence, rape and attempted rape (arts. 2, 12, 14 and 16).
The State party should strengthen its efforts to provide legal protection to migrant workers, including female domestic workers, in its territory against torture, ill- treatment and abuse and guarantee access to justice. In that regard, the State party should:

(a) Adopt, as a matter of urgency, labour legislation covering domestic work and providing legal protection to migrant domestic workers against exploitation, ill- treatment and abuse;
(b) Consider abolishing the sponsorship system for all migrant workers, as recommended by the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children (A/HRC/4/23/Add.2, para. 95); and
(c) Provide data of complaints of ill-treatment of migrant workers filed with the authorities, the action taken to solve cases, remedies provided to victims and the punishment imposed against employers responsible.