VZCZCXRO8734
RR RUEHDE RUEHDIR RUEHHM RUEHJO RUEHPOD
DE RUEHDO #0088/01 0351116
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 041116Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY DOHA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7541
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHXI/LABOR COLLECTIVE
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 0110
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0111
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI 0020
RUEHJA/AMEMBASSY JAKARTA 0072
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 0174
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0325
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000088 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, DRL/ILCSR 
LABOR FOR ILAB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ELAB ECIN ECON SMIG IN ID BG
CE, VM, NP, QA 
SUBJECT: QATAR'S BILATERAL LABOR AGREEMENTS - ALL POMP AND 
NO CIRCUMSTANCE 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Qatar has recently signed a number of 
bilateral labor agreements with South and Southeast Asian 
governments.  Local and regional press have touted the 
agreements as benefiting the hundreds of thousands of 
unskilled and semi-skilled laborers and domestic workers in 
Qatar from those countries.  In fact, however, the agreements 
are little more then window dressing to address the often 
appalling expatriate labor situation in Qatar.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Since November 2007, Qatar's Minister of Labor and 
Social Affairs (MOLSA), Dr. Sultan bin Hassan Al-Dhabit 
Al-Doussari, has signed no fewer than six bilateral labor 
agreements or additional protocols with South and Southeast 
Asian countries, including India, Nepal, Indonesia, 
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.  Post has requested 
copies of the agreements from the Government of Qatar (GOQ) 
and from the foreign missions in Qatar.  To date, only the 
Nepalese Embassy has provided a copy of any draft agreement. 
The following summarizes press reporting and foreign embassy 
views of the agreements: 
 
INDIA:  Additional labor protocol signed November 20, 2007 in 
New Delhi with Indian Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs 
Vayalar Ravi.  The agreement is said to extend provisions of 
the original 1985 Labor Agreement to cover domestic workers. 
It also expands the mandate of the Joint Committee for mutual 
labor issues.  The Labor Attache at the Indian Embassy told 
us the bilateral agreement does not touch on work conditions 
or minimum salaries of workers. 
 
INDONESIA:  Labor agreement signed January 21 in Doha with 
Indonesian Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Ir Erman 
Suparno.  The agreement provides for a Joint Committee on 
Labor Cooperation to seek possible employment opportunities 
in Qatar for Indonesian workers.  The official at the 
Indonesian Embassy in Doha responsible for labor issues told 
us he has not seen a copy of the labor agreement and could 
not provide any insights on it. 
 
BANGLADESH:  Additional labor protocol signed January 6 in 
Dhaka with the Bangladeshi official in charge of Foreign 
Affairs, Labor and Expatriate Affairs, Iftikhar Chowdery. 
The Bangladeshi Ambassador to Qatar, Maroof Zaman, noted the 
additional protocol would increase the number of Bangladeshi 
workers in Qatar.  The Labor Attache at the Bangladeshi 
Embassy told us he is unaware of any new protocol. 
 
SRI LANKA:  Labor agreement signed January 9 in Colombo with 
Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Employment Promotion and 
Welfare Dr. Keheliya Rambukwelle.  The agreement underscores 
the need work contracts that will guarantee basic rights and 
duties consistent with the Qatari Labor Law.  The Labor 
Attache at the Sri Lankan Embassy told us he was informed 
that a labor agreement had been signed, but copies of it will 
only be released after ratification by the Sri Lankan Cabinet 
and Parliament. 
 
VIETNAM:  Labor agreement signed January 11 in Hanoi with the 
Vietnamese Minister of Labor and War Invalids.  The agreement 
notes that for Vietnamese to be employed in Qatar, a signed 
work contract between the employee and the employer outlining 
the main terms, conditions, specific obligations, and rights 
should be presented.  The contract must not contravene the 
agreement or the Qatari Labor Law.  The agreement with 
Vietnam also provides for a joint committee to oversee its 
implementation and regulate Vietnamese labor employment in 
Qatar.  We were unable to obtain reaction from Vietnamese 
diplomats, as there is no Vietnamese diplomatic mission in 
Qatar. 
 
NEPAL:  Additional labor protocol signed January 20 in Doha 
with Nepalese Minister of Labor and Transport Management 
Ramesh Lekhak.  The protocol contains provisions for 
establishing a joint committee of member-experts from both 
countries to review labor and related issues.  It reportedly 
states that if an employer terminates the services of a 
Nepalese worker during the contractual period without his 
consent, the employer must fulfill salary and legal 
 
DOHA 00000088  002 OF 002 
 
 
obligations for the entire contractual period.  The draft 
protocol provided to us by the Nepalese Embassy February 3, 
however, contradicted this by stating that workers in this 
situation would be paid only what they had accrued.  The 
draft protocol shown to us also stated that Qatar retains the 
right to deport "any number of Nepalese workers" at the end 
of their contract period, or at any time, "if their presence 
in the State of Qatar becomes contrary to the public interest 
or national security of the state." 
 
¶3. (SBU) We asked the Legal Department at the MOLSA January 
31 for copies of the agreements.  Rather than providing them, 
a legal advisor told us that the new agreements and protocols 
amounted to nothing new beyond obligations already stated in 
the 2004 Labor Law. 
 
¶4. (SBU) COMMENT:  The signing of the new labor agreements 
and protocols was widely covered in the local and regional 
press.  Rather than providing new protections for the 
hundreds of thousands of foreign workers in the country, as 
press reports suggested, the agreements appear to reinforce 
GOQ control over the workforce and ensure continued Qatari 
access to cheap labor from abroad.  We believe the recent 
spate of labor agreements was intended to give the appearance 
of real labor reform without actually delivering it. 
RATNEY