1) What was life like for the workers before they came to Qatar?
2) Why are they working here?
3) What jobs do they do, and how much do they make?
4) How much can one person tolerate, how much unfairness can someone take?
5) Why do the workers have to live in horrible conditions, and make close to nothing, while Qatar is so rich?
Answers
1) Answering this question will help me see what their life (and their family’s life) is like back home. Answering this question will also help me understand how they feel about living in Doha, blessed or unfortunate. I will also be able to compare, their life now, and how their life was before. This question will bring contrast to my poem.
2) The workers have come from such poverty, and struggle to keep their families alive that making “barley nothing” as we see it, is pure luck for the workers. To be able to see why they are living under such awful circumstances in the first place is important. It will give my poem a sense of willingness and will power.
3) Understanding how much a person makes, and what job they do is important for people who want to understand what these people are going through. People will be able to put themselves in the workers shoes, and see what they are dealing with, whether it be money problems, and how they get the money to their families or just what they are put through at work and how to deal with it.
4) Bringing up this question in my poem will help people relate to the workers feelings better and stronger. They will be able to feel the workers pain, therefore making the poem more “touching.” These workers must keep their mouth shut, or else they might loose their job, and maybe a whole family is dependent on that mans income. So even if something is not fair, they have to go along and deal with it. So in my poem I will also be able to describe unfairness and its’ impact on people.
5) I believe that this question is one of the most important questions to ask. It incorporates a lot of the other questions I have asked, like question 4. It also gives people different perspectives, what the upper/ rich class would be thinking, the middle class, and also what the workers are thinking. Answering this question, I will be able to show greed and misunderstanding in my poem.
1) List possible resources.
2) Review sources.
This website states all the Qatari Labor Laws. Knowing what the laws are, we can see if the companies are following the set laws. I do find the language on this site hard to understand so I do not intend to use this site.
This website seems to be acurate. It is meant for Indians planning to work in Qatar. It explains what to bring as well as what to expect.
This website seems to be acurate as it is a government website. It is about the labor force in Doha. This website just gives a small overview of labor work in Doha. They also mention about certain laws that were passed, ex. laborers right to go on strike.
This website is very interesting as it states what the government fails to tell the public. I do believe some of it, as they site sources, but i think that they stress the truth, by over exaggerating.
This website is a local Nepali news station. Most of the articles are of local news. I do believe that this site is accurate, but i think that they stress on some things, as they want to make it seem worse than it really is. It is updated everyday so i guess that makes it some-what reliable.
This is news article, from a Qatari news station; Al Jazeera English. Al Jazeera seems to be a very realiable source, as it sites its' sources. It is not biast, as it says what is wrong with their country. This article also has statistics.
This is the official website for Ambe. Ambe is an "overseas manpower" supplying agency. Through compnaies like this, laborers manage to find jobs in places like Qatar and the U.A.E.
This website seems very reliable as it sites its sources. This website talkes about global issues including overseas labor and domestic help. It also gives you links to articles that focus on human rights issues.
3) Compare and contrast sources.
Qatar sucks and the Investment Promotion Department website have very different points of view. Qatar sucks bluntly expresses its' views on life in Qatar, and in the case of this website, opinions expressed are not positive. While the Qatari Investment website speaks in positive terms about Qatar's potential for growth. This is quite unfortunate because most people are drawn to the catchiness of the title of Qatar Sucks, and they will read it and be influenced my this negative point of view. On the other hand, the investment website, which is quite positve, is limited to only buisness men, who are interested in the local stock- markets.
4) Choose most reliable sources.
5) Recognize and reproduce valuable information from sources.
Indian Embassy
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The Indo-Qatar Labour agreement does not cover drivers, cooks, houseboys and housemaids.
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The person who is employing you is called the "Kaafil" (sponsor) and your basic relation is with your sponsor. If you are shifting sponsors, it is illegal without a valid permission. If you run away from work and join another work that is also illegal.
Human rights watch: Migrants/ Qatar
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The Government severely limits freedom of association. The Government does not allow political parties or membership in international professional organizations critical of the Government or of any other Arab government. Private social, sports, trade, professional, and cultural societies must be registered with the Government. Security forces monitor the activities of such groups.
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Qatar's human rights record is blemished, Human Rights Watch said. Although the free-wheeling al-Jazeera satellite television station is based in Qatar, the government restricts freedom of assembly.
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Migrants face a wide range of human rights abuses since they often fall through the cracks of legal protection. For international migrants crossing borders in hope of work or freedom, and also internal migrants leaving their villages for big cities, migration brings risk as well as opportunity.
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Discrimination, isolation, language barriers and lack of legal status impose formidable obstacles that prevent many migrants from seeking redress for human rights abuses.
Al- Jazeera
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The Gulf countries are enjoying an economic boom. Construction projects, buoyed by oil-rich investors, were worth $200bn in 2006 alone.An estimated 700,000 migrant Asian labourers work as construction workers in the UAE, where fewer than 20 per cent of a population of four million are UAE citizens.
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On arrival, their passports are taken by their employer. On the construction sites they risk injury and even death as they work in temperatures that sometimes touch 50C.
- At the end of the day, many return to crowded, cramped and unhygienic accommodation in vast camps usually on the outskirts of the cities.
- "Many of these workers are illiterate and very naïve," Hadi Gahemi, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, says.
Ambe
- We have been following stringent system and procedure to ensure only top quality candidates strictly in conformity with the “JOB SPECIFICATIONS” are provided to our clients so that they not only deliver the goods but also augment the Company’s advancement prospects.
- OVERSEAS MANPOWER” supplying agency established in 1993 and recognized by the Government of India.
- We are a 100% EOU with all our clients located abroad. There are always opportunities for our employees to visit the client site for system analysis, implementation of software, customer support etc. At any point of time there are over 500 people at our client sites all around the world.
2) Choose top 5 pieces of information.
The Indo-Qatar Labour agreement does not cover drivers, cooks, houseboys and housemaids.
The Government severely limits freedom of association. The Government does not allow political parties or membership in international professional organizations critical of the Government or of any other Arab government. Private social, sports, trade, professional, and cultural societies must be registered with the Government. Security forces monitor the activities of such groups.
The Gulf countries are enjoying an economic boom. Construction projects, buoyed by oil-rich investors, were worth $200bn in 2006 alone.An estimated 700,000 migrant Asian labourers work as construction workers in the UAE, where fewer than 20 per cent of a population of four million are UAE citizens.
For all this work the average wage is between $5 and $7 a day. But back in their home countries the dream of striking it rich in the Gulf holds a powerful appeal for young Asian men looking to better their circumstances and that of their families.
"Many of these workers are illiterate and very naïve," Hadi Gahemi, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, says.
3) Categorize top 5.
Labor Laws and Regulations
The Indo-Qatar Labour agreement does not cover drivers, cooks, houseboys and housemaids.
The Government severely limits freedom of association. The Government does not allow political parties or membership in international professional organizations critical of the Government or of any other Arab government. Private social, sports, trade, professional, and cultural societies must be registered with the Government. Security forces monitor the activities of such groups.
3) Compose a poem using information from sources.
4) Evaluate poem.
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