Qatar’s Assistant Foreign Minister for International Co-operation, HE Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohamed bin Jabor al-Thani, addressing the 18th Asia Pacific Forum (APF) annual conference, at Doha’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
The Labour and Social Affairs Ministry has commissioned an international law firm to make “an independent review of allegations of failure to enforce certain international conventions on the treatment of workers, most notably, the Forced Labour Convention”, a senior official told the Qatar News Agency (QNA) yesterday.
DLA Piper, the law firm, will provide a report on the allegations’ “veracity” to the Ministry, adviser of the international relations at the Ministry, Ali Ahmed al-Kholeifi, said.
“The Qatar government takes its international obligations very seriously,” stressed al-Kholeifi.
He told QNA that the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry had noted that recently there had been a number of allegations about lapses in the implementation of some international conventions related to workers.
“The Labour and Social Affairs Ministry, as a responsible Qatari government department, has commissioned DLA Piper, a leading international law firm, to undertake an independent review of the allegations and provide a report on their veracity to the Ministry,” al-Kholeifi told QNA.
“Once the report has been delivered, the Ministry will decide on an appropriate course of action to take in response to the allegations,” he noted.
The Convention concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour or Forced Labour Convention (No 29) is an International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention. It is one of eight ILO fundamental conventions.
The convention defines forced labour as “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not
offered himself voluntarily”.
offered himself voluntarily”.
Meanwhile, Qatar’s Assistant Foreign Minister for International Co-operation, HE Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohamed bin Jabor al-Thani, has said the state, under the leadership of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, is acting “with all of its capacities, the government authorities and the civil society institutions, to protect, boost and guarantee human rights for everyone in Qatar, whether a citizen, a resident or a traveller”.
Addressing the 18th Asia Pacific Forum (APF) annual conference, currently underway in Doha, Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohamed pointed to HH the Emir’s views about human rights “as a strategic option” for the Qatar National Vision 2030.
The government, he said, was actively working to improve labour conditions and achieve international standards that guarantee workers’ rights which he “will benefit the country and help (it) score high development rates”.
In a speech at the event’s opening session, National Human Rights Committee chairman HE Dr Ali bin Smikh al-Marri said the new reality in the Arab region required “a close look at future” to avoid the high cost people would pay on their security, integrity and stability.
HE al-Marri urged “close co-operation and a genuine partnership” with governments and civil society, the unification of perception of human rights issues and the need to agree on mechanisms for resolving problems and challenges, hoping that the forum would come up with applicable recommendations.
He noted that one of the forum’s tasks was to support the establishment and development of national institutions and to enhance their relations with governments and civil society groups.
Al-Marri expressed his “thanks and gratitude” for receiving the forum’s presidency from Amara Pongsapich, the chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, praising the panel’s efforts in the Asia Pacific.
The APF annual meeting was a major decision-making forum and a catalyst for developing agreed new programmes and common policy positions.
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