A/HRC/26/35/Add.1 22. The Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development is a private, non-profit organization. It was founded in 1995 by Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani and Sheikha Moza bint Nasser. The Foundation has launched a welfare initiative that is designed to curb unfair employment practices. Its mandatory standards of migrant workers’ welfare set forth minimum mandatory requirements with respect to recruitment, living and working conditions and general treatment of workers engaged in construction and other projects at the Qatar Foundation. 23. The Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee was created after Qatar won the bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2022. Its main responsibilities are the infrastructure projects related to the World Cup stadiums. 24. Qatar National Vision 2030, launched in 2008, aims to transform Qatar into an advanced country. It rests on four pillars: human, social, economic and environmental development. The National Development Strategy 2011–16 was prepared to set a path towards achieving the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030. The Strategy provides that the labour laws will be revised to protect further the rights and safety standards of all expatriate workers within a comprehensive social protection framework and in accord with international norms and standards. It further states that improving labour rights will not only benefit employees but also enhance the global image of Qatar as a leading and progressive nation. It sets as a target an increase from 6 to 20 in the number of ILO conventions signed. IV. Recruitment practices A. The kafala (sponsorship) system 25. The kafala (sponsorship) system is used to regulate the relationship between employers and migrants, with a work permit linked to a single person, the sponsor, who is often the employer, although this is not always the case. Sponsors are empowered by the Sponsorship Law to prevent migrants from changing employers and from leaving Qatar. The kafala system enables unscrupulous employers to exploit employees. Frequent cases of abuse against migrants include the confiscation of passports, refusal to give “no objection” certificates (allowing migrants to change employer) or exit permits and refusal to pay migrants’ plane tickets to return home. Some employers do not extend residence permits for their employees, often because of the fees incurred. This leads to migrants ending up in an irregular situation, with no valid identity card, despite the fact that they are regularly employed. 26. Migrants are required to stay with their employer unless they get a “no objection” certificate and employers are required to report migrants who abscond to the Ministry of Interior. Migrants who leave their employers without a “no objection” certificate are charged with absconding and labelled runaways. They lose their residence permit and risk fines, imprisonment and deportation. The Special Rapporteur believes this system can amount to forced labour. 27. The Sponsorship Law of 2009 replaced a law from 1963 and includes some positive legislative developments, such as the provision which made it illegal for sponsors to confiscate passports. It also allows for a change of sponsor in certain cases and provides that the Ministry of Interior can provide an exit permit if the sponsor who refuses to do so cannot bring a court case against the migrant. However, the Special Rapporteur regrets that this law is not effectively enforced, as the practice of confiscating passports seems to be still widespread and change of sponsorship is difficult. While the Sponsorship Law allows 7