A/HRC/44/57/Add.1 27. Low-income (and even high-income) migrant workers reported that salaries greatly depended on their countries of origin, such that workers performing the same tasks often earned significantly different salaries. This is partly due to poor labour regulations regarding pay equity,23 but, as mentioned above, national origin discrimination and racial and ethnic stereotyping also contribute to the problem. For example, despite possessing professional degrees, some migrant workers reported being relegated to low-income jobs most commonly linked to and occupied by workers of their racial or ethnic group. 28. Low-income migrant workers also reported facing prohibitive hurdles when seeking to change employment due to the requirements of “no objection” certificates, which employees must secure from their sponsoring employer before they can legally terminate their employment and seek alternatives.24 Under Law No. 21 of 2015, an employee who leaves her employment without a “no objection” certificate is required to leave the country, or face detention and deportation. During the visit, the Special Rapporteur noted that a climate of fear affected the ability of migrants, especially domestic workers, to lodge valid and even pressing complaints against employers for labour violations due to reasonable concerns that employers could retaliate by reporting employees to authorities on false claims of “absconding”. B. Domestic workers 29. Among low-income migrant workers, many domestic workers, who are predominantly women, confront distinct and extreme difficulties in Qatar, and face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, including extreme human rights violations due to their gender, nationality, temporary worker status and low income. 25 The Special Rapporteur received reports that it is not uncommon for domestic workers to be confined by their employers – Qatari and non-Qatari alike – to the private homes in which these women work. Many are subjected to harsh working conditions: excessively long workdays with no rest and no days off; passport and mobile phone confiscation; physical and social isolation; and, in some cases, physical, verbal or sexual assault by employers and their teenage or adult children. The Special Rapporteur heard testimonies from domestic workers who reported being denied food for prolonged periods, being regularly forced to subsist on leftovers or insufficiently nutritious food, and, in some cases, starvation. Two sub-Saharan domestic workers testified regarding their experiences of chilling and horrifying sexual abuse – one reported being regularly raped by her male employer for over a year, before she was able to escape from his home. The Government must take urgent action to ensure that egregious violations such as these are brought to an end. 30. The decision to create a separate law (No. 15 of 2017) to govern the rights of domestic workers, 26 rather than include them under the Labour Law (No. 14 of 2004), 27 which applies to other migrant workers, has further marginalized domestic workers. Law No. 15 of 2017 offers lower levels of protections than the Labour Law. Higher limits on daily work hours, lower requirements to provide breaks and rest days, and no paid sick leave requirements, for example, place domestic workers at a relative disadvantage, continuing global and historical trends of gendered discrimination against migrant domestic workers. 31. The disparate treatment under the law exacerbates the social exclusion of domestic workers. Whereas the Labour Law provides for a maximum 8-hour workday, the domestic workers law stipulates a maximum 10-hour workday. Furthermore, although the law pertaining to domestic workers states that the workday should be interspersed with breaks, 23 24 25 26 27 8 See Human Rights Watch, “Domestic workers’ rights in Qatar” (2018). Available at www.hrw.org/news/2018/06/26/domestic-workers-rights-qatar. See Amnesty International, All Work, No Pay: The Struggle of Qatar’s Migrant Workers for Justice (London, 2019). Available at www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/ MDE2207932019ENGLISH.PDF. See, for example, CEDAW/C/QAT/CO/2, para. 15. Available from www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex4.detail?p_lang=en&p_isn=105099&p_ count=8&p_classification=22. Available from www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/--ilo_aids/documents/legaldocument/wcms_125871.pdf.