Webzine Contribution Final Draft

Topic: Children's Rights In Qatar

     Qatar is a sovereign Arab emirate located in Western Asia/Middle East. 86% of the 1 million population in Qatar are foreigners. Immigrants are mostly Indians, Pakistanis, Nepalese, Iranians, Filipinos, Egyptians and Sri Lankans. According to Forbes, Qatar is now one of the richest countries in the world. However, it does not necessarily mean that it has successfully brought its citizens a good quality of life. Even though Qatar has great economic potential to fulfill its people’s demand, it chooses to exploit them instead. Both male and female adults and children are being violated in terms of human rights. For this essay, I am going to focus on Children's rights in Qatar. Children are physically and sexually abused, do not have access to education, are too young to be married, are forced to become labors, and are in threat of being orphans. Before we go in depth to the children's rights that are violated, we should keep in mind that Qatar has signed and ratified the Convention of the Rights of the Child by 1995. In other words, they agree to not offend children’s rights and it is their duty not to violate the rights.

     Female children in particular are not prepared for being married in many ways. Girls are mentally, physically and financially not well-developed enough for marriage. According to Humanium, the minimum marriage age for a girl is 16 years old while for boys it is 18 years old. In other words, children might have to marry before they have the ability to work since at this age they should be still going to school. Also, at this age children are still growing and developing but instead they will have to marry to take on more pressure they are not ready to handle yet, for example, dealing with family relationship, having a chance of being pregnant, having to earn money to support family, and there will also be an increased rate of domestic violence since domestic violence is a common issue in Qatar. Research also has found that there will be a greater chance for child brides to be infected with sexually transmitted disease, suffering from obesity and many other health problems. According to article 27 the UNCRC, "Children have the right to a standard of living that is good enough to meet their physical and mental needs." It has clearly stated that children are expected to have good physical and mental health. However, being married will only lead them to risks of having diseases, suffering from domestic problems and being financially burdened for supporting family. 

      Children are constantly suffering from a wide range of abuses from different people. According to Humaium, parents think using violence against children is normal and is even necessary for teaching children. In other words, domestic abuse is a norm in Qatar and children can be abused whenever their parents feel the need to. Also, according to Scott, boys are physically abused while females are mentally abused. Those who are domestically abused are likely to abuse others at school. In other words, domestic abuse will not only harm the children themselves, and it will influence the child victims to do the same to other children. According to article 19 of UNCRC, "children have the right to be protected from being hurt and mistreated, physically or mentally". It is clear that adults and children in Qatar are violating children's rights and they should never treat children with violence. 

     African children in particular are forced to be labors. These children are kidnapped and sold to become camel jockeys. According to article 4 in UDHR, "No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms". This has clearly shown that Qatar is violating children's rights by having them become slaves. Also, such practice will lead them to risks of having poor working conditions that harm their health and not having the chance to access education. This violates children's rights in terms of mental and physical health, and education(I have suggested in the previous paragraph)

     Some may say that in 2005 Qatar has forbidden child labor. That means children's rights should be protected. However, the law only protects its citizens which means foreigners are still vulnerable. Also, the government sees non-citizens as contract labors and they do not deserve legal or citizenship rights. According to Human Rights Watch, nearly 90% of Qatar’s population is foreigners. In other words, nearly all of the people in Qatar are not protected by human rights. 

     Children do not have the freedom to leave Qatar since their parents are not allowed to do so. Migrant labor workers in Qatar are in control by employers. Research has found that employees are not allowed to leave the country unless their employers allow. In other words, labors are forced to do their jobs and have no freedom to quit. We should know that most labor workers bring their family to the country(especially for the construction for World Cup 2022 since it is long time work) which in turn mean that children are also not allowed to leave. According to article 13 in UDHR,  "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country". In other words, employers do not have the authority to hold migrant workers in Qatar and it is the workers' choice to leave or not leave. 

     Parents are at risk of death which might make children orphans. Constructions in Qatar have led to significant labor deaths. It is reported that the construction for World cup 2022 has killed thousands of employees. This has also led to orphaned children. Children will risk not having access to education, food, shelter, care and many other sources that are provided and supported by parent(s). Also, children might be traumatised by the death of their parent(s) and it will lead them to mental problems. Children's right will be violated this way because they will likely not be able to grow and develop in a healthy way without their parent(s). 

      To conclude, children in Qatar suffer from mental, physical and financial problems brought by marriage; are abused from different people either mentally or physically; are forced to be labors; do not have the freedom to go to other countries; risk being orphans. To tackle the abuse problems, anti-abuse organisations and campaigns should be made to support the abused children and protest against the abusers. Also, supervision should be done in schools where abuse happens commonly such as toilets and playgrounds. There should be compulsory checkups for children’s mental and physical health to make sure they are not abused by anyone. Governments from other countries should watch and help change the problems in Qatar by supervising or warning them. More specifically, countries can put inspectors into workplaces and boycott Qatar by not benefitting them in all ways until they succeed in protecting human rights. We as global citizens should always be aware of these problems and stand up for children in Qatar by protesting or opening up organisations.

Further Links

Problems About Child Marriage

http://marriage.about.com/od/arrangedmarriages/a/childbride_2.htm  

DOHA News

http://dohanews.co/report-one-in-five-children-in-qatar-subject-to-abuse

NACLA News

http://nacla.org/news/2014/6/19/soccer-democratic-world-cup-oligarchy