Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The International Trade Union Confederation has asked parliamentarians to raise the crisis of migrant workers trapped in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. This is the result of sanctions that have been imposed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE coalition against Qatar. Both Saudi Arabia and Qatar run kafala systems which mean that the migrant workers require permission from their employers for an exit visa if they wish to leave the country. It is a truly horrific system. According to recent information from Qatar, the government is cancelling exit permits for foreign workers and rejecting individuals' rights to freedom of movement. With the blockade of Qatar, fresh food is increasingly scarce, prices have effectively doubled which makes it extremely difficult for the migrant workers who are paid as little as $70 weekly to sustain themselves and, in many cases, it is impossible for them to send money home. Multinational companies are also understood to be drawing up contingency plans to reduce or shut down operations in Qatar as the availability of construction materials is constrained. There is a high risk that migrant workers will be left stranded as is already the case for domestic and agricultural workers employed by Qataris in Saudi Arabia.While their employer sponsors have been expelled from Saudi Arabia, employees remain stranded there, in many cases with no money or means to return to Qatar or to go home. The governments of both countries can act to eliminate the requirement for an exit visa. This would allow international agencies and the governments of sending countries, particularly Asia and Africa, to facilitate the return of migrant workers trapped by the Kafala system.

Two years ago, our national flag was lowered following the death of the brutal dictator, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. I hope that the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade will have the courage to act immediately in relation to this issue. Given that it is unlikely the Minister will be able to come to the House before the recess next week, I ask the Leader to ask the Minister to write to the Saudi Arabian and Qatar authorities calling on them to immediately withdraw the requirement for exit visas.