Khamis Rajab has finally given up his fight in Qatar and returned to Kenya, after being stranded for months without pay or proper documents. Rajab has been in touch with MRRORS.org for several weeks now, sharing his distress. However, because he was still attempting to change sponsor, he preferred not go public with his problem until he exhausted his limited options in Qatar.
In July and August of 2015, Rajab and a couple of dozen other Kenyans were brought to Qatar by Zentury Age Cleaning and Contracting Company. The workers were subcontracted to ISG JV and deployed to work on the Qatar Rail project, in their Red Line North Underground works. Salini Impregilo, Italy’s largest infrastructure group, heads the ISG joint-venture and won the USD2 billion deal in 2013 - Opens in new tab.
The Red Line is one of four rail lines that comprise the Doha Metro project, and will link stadiums for the FIFA 2022.
Rajab recounted to MRRORS.org the trauma he endured for over a year, until he left Qatar on 22 Oct, 2016, availing the ongoing amnesty.
Rajab, like his colleagues, paid a recruitment agent in Kenya about 70,000 Shillings (USD700). He was promised a job as a cleaner, on a salary of QR1500. He started work in August 2015, and was paid only QR800 plus a food allowance of QR200. His visa was never processed, and he worked without a valid ID for the period.
“Even this was never paid on time. We would be paid two or three weeks late, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to manage. We were paid till January of this year. Then even that stopped.”
At this point, about 40 of the workers were on the Qatar Rail site managed by ISG JV. “On 19 March, after two months without pay, and we did not even have food, we stopped work.”
ISG JV gave the workers and Zentury a week to sort out the issues, and took the workers off the site, Rajab says. “They (ISG) have been treating us well and trying to force our company’s boss to treat us well and ensure we are well paid but the boss punished us by lowering salary and delaying pay day.”
The company also stopped paying rent for the labor camp four months ago, rendering the workers homeless. “One kind Egyptian man allowed us to use some rooms (see photo) but there was no air condition, and it was better to sleep outdoors. We hardly have money for food.”
Rajab says he reached out to the Kenyan Embassy, the National Human Rights Committee and Labour department but received no significant help. “We even reached out to the police. And the Kenyan embassy told us only solution is to go back. But where was the money?”
The following is the gist of the complaints he filed while in Qatar:
“My name is Khamis Rajab, from Zentury company. My fellow 40+ Kenyans and I have been going through tough time in Qatar. We used to be more than 50 but the other Kenyans who got threatened by the Nigerian boss couldn’t bare more problems and went back home. The problems include;
Salary delay (paying from 20th of the next month)
No medication, sometimes no food allowance to the newcomers for maybe a month and improper working gadgets leading to easy injuries and illness.
ID delay while he holds the passports. (I have been in Qatar for 8months now and he has been holding my passport since I arrived and I still don’t have ID. I have asked for it several times with no benefit)
New workers that arrive get to sleep for months in the accommodation while waiting for work day, without payments and sometimes no food allowance. Several Kenyans have been waking for work in the accommodation for a period of 3-6months.
We complain to him and cry for RELEASE but what he does is sending them back to Kenya.”
