Qatar appoints DLA Piper to asses Amnesty claims
Amnesty report highlights the poor conditions faced by expatriate workers in Doha
Following the release of Amnesty International’s findings pertaining to human rights abuse in Qatar’s construction industry, the country announced the appointment of an international law firm to undertake an independent assessment of these claims.
“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.
“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,” he continued.
The Amnesty report explains the conditions of expat workers in Doha, who, over the course of the last year, had to deal with non-payment of wages and poor accommodation.
“DLA Piper has been instructed by the Qatari Ministry of Labour to undertake a comprehensive and independent review of Qatar’s compliance with its international treaty obligations,” the law firm said in a statement to Big Project ME, but declined to comment further.
