“More than 15,000 migrant workers at QDVC voted to select their representatives in the Workers’ Welfare Committees and later on discussed issues about their accommodation and the need to increase their wages. This was only made possible by workers themselves asserting their fundamental workers’ rights based on Qatari labour laws,” said Ambet Yuson, BWI General Secretary, in his participation to Qatari government’s Side Event National Commitment, Inter-Regional Cooperation and Global Partnership to Achieve Safe Migration, held on December 9 in conjunction with the International Governmental 11-12 December Summit to adopt the Global Compact on Migration (GCM).
Following the 2016 New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, the United Nations began a two-year process of consultation and negotiation for the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (referred to as Global Compact for Migration, GCM).
“Our joint inspection cooperation with Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy for 2020 World Cup has also contributed in improving working conditions of hundreds of thousands of migrant workers employed in several stadia for the World Cup and together with leadership of His Excellency Mr Yousuf Mohamed Al Othman Fakhroo, Minister of Administrative Development, Labour & Social Affairs, we intend to expand to cover the rest of construction sites,” said Ambet Yuson.
In relation to GCM 23 Objectives Mr. Yuson underscored the strategic importance of real migrant workers empowerment necessitates partnership that takes into account not just the parties expertise in relation to ground realities and challenges, as in the case of Qatar, but also cultivating trust to work on even the seemingly insurmountable issues.
“We encourage all parties to GCM, particularly the governments, to seriously consider direct participation of trade unions in the realisation of GCM objectives and commitments. In doing so, the commitments should deliberately include guarantee on workers and trade union rights as defined by 1998 ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and Convention on Promotion and Protection of Migrant Workers and Their Families,” said Ambet Yuson in the ILO Side Event on Realising the Implementation of Decent Work and Labour Migration Component of the GCM
