A/HRC/26/35/Add.1 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 23 April 2014 Original: English Human Rights Council Twenty-sixth session Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, François Crépeau Addendum Mission to Qatar* Summary While recognizing that Qatar has the highest proportion of migrants of any country in the world, who outnumber Qatari nationals by far, and that this creates unique challenges, the Special Rapporteur concludes that efforts need to be stepped up to prevent human rights abuses against migrants. Migrants often pay recruitment fees and arrive in Qatar heavily indebted, only to have their passports confiscated upon arrival and the contract signed in their home country replaced, significantly reducing their salary and often changing the nature of their work. Exploitation is frequent and migrants often work without pay and live in substandard conditions. Domestic workers are excluded from the labour law and are particularly vulnerable to abuse. The recruitment process for migrants needs to be further formalized in order to prevent exploitation and legislation must be enforced in order to ensure their rights are respected. The kafala (sponsorship) system, which links a work permit to a single employer, is a source of abuse and exploitation of migrants and should be abolished. The Special Rapporteur also notes the responsibilities of the countries that send migrants to Qatar and the private sector. * The summary of the present report is circulated in all official languages. The report itself, which is annexed to the summary, is circulated in the language of submission and in Arabic only. GE.14-13866