Fake companies that get large volumes of working visas are behind the growing number of low skilled foreign workers being abandoned in Qatar, an official has said.
The companies, that only exist on paper, are obtaining work visas on mass and selling them onto unsuspecting overseas workers, according to Ahmed Al Rais, owner of large businesses in Doha.
Al Rais who is a prominent member of the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI), made his comments in Qatar daily The Peninsula.
Al Rais explained how the bogus companies sell off work visas to manpower agencies abroad and then when the foreign workers arrive they are left stranded.
“I have been urging the authorities concerned for long to classify private companies into three categories: A, B and C, (signaling their treatment of foreign staff) to help end the problem of abandoned and absconding workers,” said Al Rais, who employs more than 3,000 foreign workers himself.
Grade ‘A’ companies should be the ones operating for 20 years or more with a track record of treating their workers well.
Firms existing for less than 20 years and more than 10 with no worker-related problems, should be put in category ‘B’.
New or even old companies with known problems related to workers should be classified as ‘C’ and they should not be given work visas at all, explained Al Rais.
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