Qatar initiative aims to help domestic workers

An initiative has been launched by the Qatar government to resolve the grievances of household staff and their disputes with employers.The National Office for Combating Human Trafficking (NOCHT) said it was conducting meetings with members of diplomatic missions of major domestic worker-exporting countries, like Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka and Ethiopia.

The talks aim to discuss ways of overcoming any conflict between staff and their sponsors, Qatar daily the Peninsula reported on Thursday.

Mariam Al Malki, director of NOCHT, told the newspaper the initiative could help find temporary solutions to increasing problems between workers and their employers until a law governing the relationship between them comes into force.

NOCHT recently held a consultative meeting with a representative from the Indonesian Embassy where the difficulties Indonesian housemaids face, such as the recruitment process, medical check-ups and lack of familiarity with the local culture, were discussed.