1. How do they feel about the class difference in Qatar? (personal) 

    

2. What do they get for their hard work? (financial) 
   • The workers, charged up to US$1,600 - or two years salary - by their local recruiters to find jobs in the region, leave their families behind and relocate to the Gulf labour camps where they often work in 50 degree heat and face life-threatening industrial accidents, all for between US$5 and $7 a day. Al Jazeera - Blood, Sweat and Tears
   • There is no minimum wage requirement. Salaries are negotiable. Expatriate workers pay for health care and are required to pay annual residency fees in the amount of US$275. According to the U.S. State Department Country Commercial Guide, 2001, the wives and children of expatriate workers are required to pay US$137 and US$82 respectively in residency fees. Qatar - Working conditions
3. What are their living conditions? (class) 
   • While many migrants are able to work and earn without hindrance, others confront serious abuses, such as deception about their working conditions, months or years of unpaid wages, or physical and psychological abuse. (here)
   • “We have documented many cases of migrants receiving no pay after working backbreaking hours for months and even years in jobs that no one else wants,” said William Gois. (here)
   • Qatar has no tradition of labor unions, even though trade associations and labor unions are not illigal in Qatar.
4. Where are the workers from? (personal) 
   • Asian labourers in the Gulf, most of whom come from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Al Jazeera - Blood, Sweat and Tears
5. How is their home country different or similar in class differences compared to Doha?(class)
   • Countries of origin such as the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Indonesia benefit tremendously from migrants’ remittances. (more)
   • Bangladesh has been under a state of emergency since January 11, 2007. The emergency rules have placed serious limits on civil and political rights, and have severely diluted constitutional protections of individual rights. (more)

 

 

           Explanations

1. I think this is important and will make my poem better because if we know the workers’ opinion and not only stats and other facts the poem becomes more personal and effective.  

    

2. This will tell people how they are treated differently and maybe make people think more about how they treat these workers. 

    

3. This is important because it will show people how lucky they are to have a big house and plenty of food, but still to open their minds to how other people have to deal with living a descent life with the few things they have or are being given. 

    

4. People will realize how long these workers travel to get just a little money to help their starving family back in their home countries, and it could show something about that the workers miss their family very much. 
5. I could talk about how it’s a total new experience for someone who just got to Doha how big a class difference there is here and maybe it’s very different from where they came from or maybe it’s similar or maybe there’s even more class difference in their home country. It will give people a view of how people are maybe used to this difference or maybe it’s a whole new world for them and it is very hard to adapt to.

    

    

    

• an article telling basics about where the workers are from, their conditions, their payment, how some of them commit suicide due to the debt they can't pay, and other useful info.

Human Rights Watch - Middle East/North Africa

• a few links to articles about human rights and immigrants.

• this website gives many negative opinions (biased)

• gives information about labor from all over the world and what this organization does to help.

• an organization that sends workers to the gulf and other places. Could be used to ask them questions about labor rights.

• tells about the organization Labor Rights and what labor rights are

• this organization defends human rights and there is a whole bunch of links to useful articles

• a graph showing the increasing number of workers in Qatar.

• links to articles about labor and what is being done to it.
  • The UAE has called for an urgent review of construction workers’ salaries following a spate of high-profile protests that have focused worldwide attention on the plight of labourers in the Emirates. (article)

• on this site you can search for anything you want, but if you type in "labor" or "labor Qatar" in the search engine, a whole bunch of sites will come up with good information on labor.

• this site explains a survey that was made in Denmark telling about the labor force.

   

   

   

• With broadcasting centers in Doha, Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington DC and supporting bureaux world-wide, the channel will set the news agenda, bridging cultures and providing a unique grassroots perspective from underreported regions around the world to a potential global audience of over one billion English speakers. (I got this information here)
• Al Jazeera English was awarded the "Best single news report" for Kylie Grey's report on Agent Orange yesterday (29 November) at the leading industry event in Asia, the 12th Asian Television Awards 2007 in Singapore. (here)

Human Rights Watch - Middle East/North Africa

• Contact information here

• Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world.

  We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice.

  We investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable.

  We challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect international human rights law.

  We enlist the public and the international community to support the cause of human rights for all.

  Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization, supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations worldwide. It accepts no government funds, directly or indirectly. (here)

Qatar Sucks

• All content has a source.
• Opinions are pretty biased

International Labour Organization

• The ILO was created in 1919, as part of the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I, to reflect the belief that universal and lasting peace can be accomplished only if it is based on social justice.
• ILO believe:
  • Whereas universal and lasting peace can be established only if it is based upon social justice;
  • And whereas conditions of labour exist involving such injustice hardship and privation to large numbers of people as to produce unrest so great that the peace and harmony of the world are imperilled; and an improvement of those conditions is urgently required;
  • Whereas also the failure of any nation to adopt humane conditions of labour is an obstacle in the way of other nations which desire to improve the conditions in their own countries;
• The areas of improvement listed in the Preamble remain relevant today, for example:
  • Regulation of the hours of work including the establishment of a maximum working day and week;
  • Regulation of labour supply, prevention of unemployment and provision of an adequate living wage;
  • Protection of the worker against sickness, disease and injury arising out of his employment;
  • Protection of children, young persons and women;
  • Provision for old age and injury, protection of the interests of workers when employed in countries other than their own;
  • Recognition of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value;
  • Recognition of the principle of freedom of association;
  • Organization of vocational and technical education, and other measures. 

AMBE

• AMBE says:
  • 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.  We have successfully deployed highly skilled manpower / personnel to some of the better known Multinationals, and Groups of Companies in the Gulf / Middle East Countries to their entire satisfaction.  For your information many of the personnel deployed by us continue to be employed till date and enjoy complete credibility from their respective employers.  Most of our clients are with us for many years and they repeatedly come to us for their manpower requirement indicating total satisfaction with the quality of service provided. (more) 

Wikipedia - Labor Rights

• There is no need to worry about accidentally damaging Wikipedia when adding or improving information, as other editors are always around to advise or correct obvious errors, and Wikipedia's software, known as MediaWiki, is carefully designed to allow easy reversal of editorial mistakes. (more)
• Because Wikipedia is an ongoing work to which, in principle, anybody can contribute, it differs from a paper-based reference source in important ways. In particular, older articles tend to be more comprehensive and balanced, while newer articles more frequently contain significant misinformation, unencyclopedic content, or vandalism. Users need to be aware of this to obtain valid information and avoid misinformation that has been recently added and not yet removed. (more)

National Labor Committee

• The mission of the National Labor Committee is to help defend the human rights of workers in the global economy. The NLC investigates and exposes human and labor rights abuses committed by U.S. companies producing goods in the developing world. (more)

 

 

• Helped bring massive and widespread media coverage to worker and human rights issues, raising them to a national level of public debate;
• Established groundbreaking models for independent monitoring of factories by local human rights and religious groups;
• Successfully pressured dozens of companies - including the Gap, Kathie Lee Gifford/Wal-Mart, and the Walt Disney Company - to improve conditions in supplier plants and to respect human and worker rights.

Qatar Labor Force - Economy

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Arabian Business - Middle East - Ministry of Labour

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Encyclopedia of the Nations

•  The Encyclopedia of the Nations is a complete source for detailed information about one hundred ninety three countries in the world, information about the United Nations and the associated agencies, and World Leaders.
• There is a section that focuses on the history and the development of the United Nations, its structure and purpose, developments by each of the United Nation's generals, and the achievements in the fields such as security and peace between nations.

 

Statistics Denmark - Declarations of content: Labour Force Survey

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Application: Choose which sources you think is best to use.

 

Al Jazeera - Blood, Sweat and Tears

Human Rights Watch - Middle East/North Africa

Encyclopedia of the Nations

International Labour Organization

National Labor Committee