Ethical recruiter says government should also put pressure on recruiters who put labourers into debt bondage
- Conditions for labourers should be audited
- Employers should prove labourers conditions meet set standards
- Call for pressure to end debt bondage imposed on many labourers
Contractors in Qatar should audit their labour supply chain to help improve worker conditions, said Tristan Foster, founder and CEO of ethical recruitment company FSI Worldwide.
Responding to Amnesty Internationals Rameshwar Nepal, director of the human rights organisations Nepal Section, Foster said auditing sounds difficult, and it is difficult.
However, it is not unheard of for companies to investigate the supply chain of their labour force. A little goes on, but we would like to see more, he said.
Nepal had asked a panel at MEEDs Qatar Projects conference in Doha today, what steps are being taken in Qatar to reinvestigate employers who have proved conditions for labourers meet standards, such as those set by the Qatar Foundation.
Foster also said the Qatari government has a role to play. He would like to see Doha putting more pressure on the companies that recruit workers in South East Asian countries, traditionally putting them into a form of debt bondage as they struggle to pay off upfront fees.
This could take the form of Qatar-based accreditation of recruitment companies in source countries.
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