NEWS RELEASE
Migrant-Rights.org named 2024 recipient of Human Rights and Business Award
Human Rights and Business Award Foundation
Geneva, 25 November 2024
Today, during the annual United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights, our foundation is naming Migrant-Rights.org as recipient of the 2024 Human Rights and Business Award. The award recognizes “outstanding work by human rights defenders addressing the human rights impacts of business”. A two-minute video announcing the award, available in English and Arabic, features a team member of Migrant-Rights.org, as well as Tulika Bansal.
Migrant-Rights.org, founded in 2007, works to stop exploitation of migrant workers in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates. By calling attention to specific abuses by companies, to underlying issues, and to the need for changes in law and practice, the organization has helped to protect the human rights of migrant workers. Migrant-Rights.org has built strong ties with migrant organizations, and shares insights with organizations in migrant-origin countries, informing pre-departure training and advocacy with governments.
The foundation’s board members (Christopher Avery, Regan Ralph and Valeria Scorza) said today: “We congratulate Migrant-Rights.org, recipient of our 2024 award. The organization has been doing outstanding, courageous work for many years to protect the rights of people in vulnerable situations, far from their homelands and families. We pay tribute to all five of the organizations nominated this year for the excellent work they are doing to protect fundamental rights; they are listed near the end of this news release.”
Migrant workers comprise nearly half the population in the GCC region, and nearly 90% of the workforce in some GCC countries. They are employed in every sector; the majority are low-income migrants employed in construction, agriculture, and domestic work. In the words of Migrant-Rights.org, migrant workers in the Gulf region “are undervalued, ignored, exploited and denied their most basic human rights.”
Notable features of Migrant-Rights.org include:
- Its close links with migrant workers and grassroots migrant organizations.
- The quality and range of its research and advocacy (which it refers to as “solutions-based advocacy”), reflected on its website, which is published in English and Arabic.
- The clarity and directness of its reports, naming companies and governments when they are associated with specific abuses, and giving recognition when positive steps are taken.
- Its promotion of transnational accountability through collaboration with journalists across Gulf migration corridors.
- Innovative sections of its website, including “Infographics: An interactive exploration of migrant issues in the Gulf”, a “Rights Abuses Map”, and “Letters to MR” (complaints sent to Migrant-Rights.org from migrant workers themselves).
- The gender-sensitive approach integrated into all of its work.
- Its special projects in which the organization “works with GCC-based companies, employers, and students and recruiters to improve employment conditions for migrant workers and improve understanding between all parties.” Its Ensaniyat Youth Fellowship program has sensitized over 150 young people to migrant worker issues through engagement with Migrant-Rights.org research and with migrant workers themselves. These fellows have created over 40 impactful campaigns, sparking dialogue with local employers and officials.
In late 2023 Migrant-Rights.org published their updated “Know Your Rights” booklets for migrant workers in the GCC, which break down the key rights and entitlements for migrant workers under the laws of all six GCC countries. Where possible, Migrant-Rights.org supports workers with labor-related complaints, often working with other local actors in this endeavor. The organization has shared its toolkits on exploitative practices in the labor supply chain with contractors and companies for use in monitoring their practices.
Migrant-Rights.org’s briefings on various issues, including trade agreements, subcontracting practices, and responsible investment, are examples of how the organization influences broader strategies toward improved business conduct. Their direct engagement has secured concrete pledges from companies and governments with a large business presence in the region. Migrant-Rights.org has also worked extensively with international organizations to put under-the-radar issues on their agenda and to inform a number of initiatives.
Below we refer to a small portion of reports and articles published by Migrant-Rights.org over recent years.
Deaths and suicides
In June 2024 Migrant-Rights.org issued a report entitled “Fire in Kuwait Workers’ Accommodation Kills at Least 49, Injures More Than 50.” Most of the victims in the 12 June fire were Indian migrant workers. Kuwait’s Interior Minister said that the incident happened “as a result of the greed of the company and building owners”; the building was overcrowded and apparently lacked proper fire safety measures and exits. The building was owned and operated by NBTC, one of the largest construction firms in Kuwait. Migrant-Rights.org points out that “[a]cross Kuwait and other GCC States, many migrant workers reside in overcrowded buildings or company accommodations that lack adequate safety and hygiene measures. Consequently, incidents such as fires, gas cylinder explosions, and building collapses are not uncommon. While the Gulf States have codes for workers’ accommodation, these regulations are poorly enforced.” In July 2024 Migrant-Rights.org published an op-ed by two Kuwait-based experts, entitled: “Visible only at Death: Will Kuwait learn from the Mangaf fire? Is the avoidable tragedy a wake-up call, or business as usual?”
A 2022 report by Migrant-Rights.org, “Deaths by suicide: Nepali migrants struggle with isolation, unmet expectations, and financial burdens,” notes that “at least 579 Nepali migrant workers across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have committed suicide in the past 11 years.” The report points to various factors leading to the increase in suicides, including harsh working conditions, financial burdens, inadequate mental health services, isolation and unmet expectations.
In a 2021 report – “Dropping Dead: Qatar’s death certificates for migrant workers are a template for denial,” with a related 2-minute video – Migrant-Rights.org wrote: “An increasing number of Nepali migrant workers’ deaths in Qatar, and other destination countries have gone unexplained in recent years, with both Nepal and destination governments neglecting to ascertain the underlying causes.”
In 2018 Migrant-Rights.org issued a report entitled “Death and Desolation: Shepherds and Farmworkers in Saudi Arabia: Explicitly excluded from the labour law and often working in isolation, the shepherds and farmworkers who help feed Saudi Arabia endure dangerous working and living conditions.” The report includes the example of Kattayadan Subair, forced to work as a shepherd in a remote area of the desert, who said his lodging was unsuitable for human survival, adding that “the heat was so intense that it burned the hair on my body, and in the winter it was so cold that the water turned to ice.” Saudi media often carries news about shepherds’ deaths due to inadequate protection from extreme weather and natural disasters.
Health issues: Many reports by Migrant-Rights.org refer to health concerns and issues affecting migrant workers. Three examples:
- Health impacts – climate: A 2024 Migrant-Rights.org report, entitled “‘From Frying Pan to Fire’: From Climate-Stricken Villages in Nepal To Extreme Heat in Gulf, Workers Risk Lives for Livelihoods,” noted that the escape by Nepalis “from one climate disaster lands them in another, with rising temperatures in the Gulf exacerbating already dangerous working conditions.” The report provides details of Nepali migrants working in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar. One who was working for Aramco, the state-owned oil company of Saudi Arabia, and who was contracted by India-headquartered company L&T Hydrocarbon, said he struggles to breathe when required to work outside in extreme heat, sometimes over 50°C/122°F, with little chance to rest. “Fear looms over him when he sees his coworkers collapsing due to heat exhaustion.” Saudi laws prohibit outdoor work between 12 pm and 3 pm in the summer months, “[b]ut workers say the three-hour ban is not fully in place, and even its full implementation wouldn’t be enough to ensure their safety.”
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photo: Urbanmyth / Alamy Stock Photo Health impacts of work in Shisha/Hookah cafes: In a 2019 report entitled “Working in Shisha Bars: Slow Deaths?,” accompanied by a short video, Migrant-Rights.org called attention to the very high carbon monoxide levels found in migrant workers who staff these cafes and have to breathe the heavy second-hand smoke, increasing the risk of lung cancer, respiratory illness, cardiovascular diseases and early death. “None of the workers Migrant-Rights.org spoke to in different countries knew the nature of their job when they signed their contracts in their home countries. Most of them were non-smokers.”
- Health care coverage: In 2023 Migrant-Rights.org issued the first comparison of health care coverage for migrant workers in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates: “Comparison of Health Care Coverage for Migrant Workers in the GCC.”
Wage theft: Migrant-Rights.org calls wage theft “one of the most rampant forms of labor exploitation in the GCC countries, with far-reaching effects across borders that force families into destitution.” The organization’s reports on this issue include:
- Workers for G.P. Zachariades (GPZ) construction company in Bahrain, hailing from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, were stranded in an abandoned labor camp, waiting for payment of their salaries and benefits, when the Bahrain Government was not paying GPZ for its work on government projects. A former GPZ employee, Muhammad Elias, died a year after returning from Bahrain to Bangladesh; he was unable to pay for life-saving surgery which his overdue wages would have covered. Muhammad’s son said his father lamented: “I spent my entire life in a foreign country only for my family, and now, at the end of my life, I can’t even support my family.”
- Many workers for construction companies in Qatar were sent back to Nepal just before the 2022 World Cup without their wages having been paid
Exploitation of rideshare and delivery drivers: Reports by Migrant-Rights.org include:
- “Rideshare platforms in Qatar: Big business, poor ethics: Uber and Careem make it easy to violate the labour rights of their drivers” (2022)
- Rare labour protests by Deliveroo and Talabat riders in Dubai shed light on gig exploitation” (2022)
Exposing the online sale of domestic workers: Migrant-Rights.org researched and reported on the fact that Google, Apple and Meta/Facebook-owned Instagram were enabling the online buying and selling of domestic workers in the Gulf, and drew attention to the BBC investigative report: “Maids for sale: How Silicon Valley enables online slave markets.”
COVID-19 pandemic: During the pandemic, with wide-scale abandonment of workers by their employers, Migrant-Rights.org reported on business negligence and provided direct support to migrants in need. The organization provided food, accommodation, and repatriation to over 3000 workers, and provided advice and support with labor complaints to over 200 workers. Three examples of Migrant-Rights.org reports during the pandemic: “As the economy suffers, even profitable UAE companies leave employees in the lurch”; “Restaurant workers driven to starvation in Saudi”; and “Job loss and wage theft: The grim reality of Kuwait’s F&B sector.”
All nominees for the 2024 award
Following is a list of all the organizations nominated for the 2024 Human Rights and Business Award by members of the foundation’s Advisory Network. Each of these is doing important work deserving international recognition.
- 7amleh (The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media) – Palestine
- Migrant-Rights.org – Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries – AWARD RECIPIENT
- Global Echo Litigation Center – Palestine programming and focus; based in U.S with staff in West Bank
- Syrian Legal Development Programme (SLDP) – Syria programming and focus; based in UK
- Forum Tunisien pour les Droits Économiques et Sociaux (FTDES) – Tunisia
The award alternates annually by region – this year Middle East & North Africa countries; next year Asia.
About the foundation
Human Rights and Business Award Foundation is an independent non-profit foundation. To ensure its independence, the foundation does not accept donations from any government or any company. The foundation’s Board members and Advisory Network members from across the world are listed on this webpage. Contact: contact@humanrightsandbusinessaward.org
Migrant-Rights.org is the seventh recipient of the annual award. The previous winners:
- 2023: OFRANEH (Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña / Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras) – Honduras
- 2022: Oil Workers’ Rights Protection Organization – OWRPO (Azerbaijan)
- 2021: AFREWATCH (Democratic Republic of Congo)
- 2020: Migrant Workers Rights Network (MWRN) (Thailand)
- 2019: Al-Haq (Palestine)
- 2018: Justiça nos Trilhos (Brazil)
