The Guardian: Migrant Workers in Qatar Forced to Pay Billions in Recruitment Fees

By Staff, The Guardian 

Low-wage migrant workers have been forced to pay billions of dollars in recruitment fees to work in Qatar over the past decade, an investigation found.

According to The Guardian, Bangladeshi men who migrated to the Gulf Arab state are likely to have paid roughly $1.5 billion in fees between 2011 and 2020.

Nepali men were estimated to have paid around $320 million between 2015 and 2019.

A third of Qatar’s two-million-strong foreign workforce is made up of Bangladeshi and Nepali migrants, who typically pay fees up to $4,000 each.

Low-wage workers from Bangladesh can earn as little as $275 a month, meaning many have to work for at least a year just to pay off their recruitment fees, The Guardian found.

The findings reveal the scale of exploitation endured by some of the world’s poorest workers.

Charging recruitment fees is illegal in Qatar, Nepal, and Bangladesh, but the practice is still widespread and commonplace in the Gulf Arab region.

Despite the cost, hundreds of thousands of workers from South Asian nations who face a lack of jobs or low wages seek work in the World Cup host nation.

Bangladeshi worker Aman Ullah told The Guardian that he paid $4,190 for a job in Qatar.

He said he was promised a monthly wage of $686, but on arrival, was taken out to the desert to work on a farm for just $220.

Qatari authorities said they tried to address the problem by opening recruitment centers in other countries where workers can sign their contracts before departure.

However, experts said they do little to curb the illegal fees because they are paid much earlier in the recruitment process.