Meinhardt Bim Studio LLC, Qatar
June 29, 2021
June 29, 2021

April 27, 2021


March 22, 2021
Quarantines and isolation have become a norm over the last year. We share three separate experiences of migrants in Qatar under differing circumstances and at different points in time. First, accounts from workers isolated in their accommodation after exposure to colleagues who had tested positive; second, a video and short explanation from a domestic worker who returned from a holiday and had to go through mandatory quarantine paid for by her employer. And finally, the experience of a worker who tested positive and was sent to institutional quarantine. Names have been changed to protect their identity.

February 25, 2021

January 14, 2021
Backlash against reforms and demand for signed resignation letters create hurdles to job mobility

The executive director of Qatar’s Workers’ Support and Insurance Fund (WSIF), Kholoud Saif Abdullah Al Kubaisi, recently stated that “over 130,000 workers have benefitted from the fund since its establishment, including its significant contribution to protecting their rights and ensuring that they receive their financial dues.” Though Al Kubaisi spoke of the fund’s transparency and its role alongside wider reforms in “reducing labour disputes and complaints,” there are still several issues that remain unaddressed.
Qatar has launched a three-month amnesty period starting from 9 February 2025, allowing foreign residents with irregular immigration status to exit the country without penalties. It is not clear if residents would be able to regularise their status. Workers can exit the country through Hamad International Airport, or alternatively, they can visit the Search and Follow-up Department on Salwa Road to complete departure procedures within the specified period.
Qatar’s Shura Council has suggested reintroducing exit permits for domestic workers, though it has rephrased the practice as ‘obtaining employer approval’ at least five days before departure.
The number of requests for job changes and rejections are on the rise in Qatar. Moreover, the rejections of new recruitment requests have also increased drastically in the last several months, likely in an effort to reduce the number of migrant workers in the country ahead of the World Cup.
Qatar's new compulsory private health insurance system for all non-citizen residents, including visitors and those employed in the public and private sectors, is being rolled out in phases. The full text of the law's executive regulations have not yet been made public.