Manama: Qatar said that it had appointed an international law firm to conduct a comprehensive and independent assessment of the abuse claims in the construction sector.
“The State of Qatar is profoundly keen on reinforcing and protecting human rights in the country,” a foreign ministry official said. “The state endeavours to enshrine such rights in its legislation and laws and to establish institutions to protect and consolidate them, without sparing any effort,” the official told Qatar News Agency (QNA) late on Sunday.
Hours earlier, Amnesty International said in a report released in the Qatari capital Doha that expatriate workers were often subjected to non-payment of wages and squalid accommodation and that they worked in dangerous conditions.
“As regards the report issued by Amnesty International in the construction sector in the State of Qatar, we would like to stress that on October 3 the global law firm DLA was appointed for a full and independent evaluation of the situation. The competent authorities had asked DLA to include the Amnesty International report in its review and assessment of the status and conditions of the expatriate workers in Qatar.”
DLA Piper says it is “a global law firm with 4,200 lawyers located in more than 30 countries throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East”.
