Meeting

The National institution for Human Rights (NIHR)’s Committee on Complaints, Monitoring and Follow-up convened its 16^th regular monthly meeting by teleconference under the chairpersonship of Ms. Maria Khoury and membership of Dr. Hameed Ahmed Husain, Mrs. Rawdha Alaradi and Mr. Ammar Ahmed Albannai.

During the meeting, the Committee stated the importance of the NIHR’s initiative for the second year in a raw with regard to monitoring violations of the afternoon work ban decision for workers whose nature of work requires them to exist in the sun and in open places from 12:00 pm to 04:00 pm during July and August, where such initiative aims to promote a culture of maintaining the health and safety of workers in open workplaces, appreciating at the same time the call for employers to reduce density of workers at workplaces, especially in their waiting rooms and means of transport, in addition to the importance of coordinating with the stakeholders in the State to reconsider some careers covered by the ban decision, such as home delivery.

The Committee also discussed the actions that could be taken by the NIHR to activate its supervisory role and verify to what extent the expatriate workers enjoy various human rights, and coordinated to hold a virtual meeting with the competent authorities to identify the obstacles and find out appropriate solutions for the workers accommodation problem as well as other problems of such group.

The Committee then reviewed its statements from January to June 2019, where it received (43) complaints, presented (154) legal aids and monitored (22) cases via the media and social media.  In addition, it received (401) calls via the toll-free hotline in 2019.  Meanwhile, from January to June 2020, it received (32) complaints, presented (304) legal aids, monitored (77) cases via the media and social media and received (854) calls via the toll-free hotline, i.e. a raise by more then 100% in giving aids, receiving calls and monitoring.

Having monitored a number of violations related to fake recruitments targeting expatriate workers, especially in recent months under the current exceptional circumstances, the Committee emphasized the importance of educating this group about their rights, using radio to spread awareness messages in several languages, educating them about their rights and urging them to resort to the NIHR for appropriate solutions and necessary legal assistance.  In addition, the Committee emphasized the importance of the role of NIHR members to monitor relevant violations and to inform the NIHR’s call and complaint receiving centre.