Qatar: Migrant construction workers strengthen solidarity and cooperation through sports

On 17 November, more than 400 Filipino migrant construction, domestic, and hospitality workers joined the 2023 annual sports festival organised by the Bayanihan Qatar, a federation of 29 active Filipino migrant workers associations, including the Bayanihan ng mga Manggagawa sa Konstruksyon ng Qatar (BMKQ), the Qatar branch of the BWI-affiliated union Federation of Free Workers of the Philippines (FFWP) in construction, plus its nine (9) partner organisations. Bayanihan Qatar and BMKQ are active participants to BWI’s various programs in the country aimed to promote and protect the legitimate interests of migrant workers. “Bayanihan” is a Filipino word that translates to “solidarity” or “cooperation” in English.

In his opening remarks, Jerry Ronquillo, President of the federation, emphasised that just like any team sport and game, workers cannot win their struggles if they do not strengthen their solidarity. “Annually, we come together and strengthen our sense of camaraderie as workers in a foreign land, which largely contributes to the power of our federation,” he said.

The Philippine Ambassador to Doha, Qatar also joined the gathering to express her solidarity with Bayanihan Qatar. Representatives from the Workers Insurance and Support Fund of the Ministry of Labour of Qatar delivered short messages of solidarity and handed over care packages to winning teams’ members in various events of the sports festival.