The Maseratis and Lexus SUVs parked outside the library provide ample evidence that these are some of the richest universities in the world.

In recent years, a number of prestigious US universities such as Georgetown, Cornell, Northwestern, Carnegie Mellon and a whole host of other high-profile western institutions have set-up branch campuses in the oil-rich state of Qatar.

To supporters of the project known as Education City, the top-tier universities are helping to teach the next generation of regional leaders how to “unlock their human potential”.

But workers who keep the schools running say their potential – along with their rights – is being trampled on by the universities and their subcontractors, who are paying cleaners and cooks less than US$230 per month.

Independent unions are banned in Qatar and labour rights groups describe the gas-rich monarchy as a 21st century “slave state”.

Amnesty International reported in November that the working arrangements faced by some migrants in Qatar meet the definition of “forced labour”.

“I was promised a salary of 1200 riyals (US$330) but now I only get 800 (US$220),” *Angel Reyes, a cleaner from the Philippines working in Education City told Equal Times.

“It’s not enough money, I can’t save anything.”

Before coming to Qatar, Reyes was promised a job in a hotel. She had to pay a recruitment fee of 30,000 pesos (US$660).

Charging employees for work visas is supposed to be illegal in Qatar, but labour laws are rarely enforced.

It’s a common story for workers employed by subcontractors at the prestigious US universities, who say the institutions are not protecting their basic rights.

“In my company, they said [we would be working] eight hour [shifts], but we are really working 12-15 hours,” says *Josephine Sanchez, an office helper employed by a subcontractor at one of the major universities.

Despite working long hours at the company for more than two years, she earns 900 riyals (US$247) a month in a country where food and transportation costs are higher than the US.

“[I am not earning] the salary I was promised. We were fighting with them [the company] but they made us sign. All of them cheated us.”

 

Migrant workforce

Migrant labourers like Sanchez comprise more than 95 per cent of Qatar’s private sector workforce. Gaining citizenship is virtually impossible – even for families who have lived for generations in the state, speak Arabic and practice the official religion of Wahhabi Islam.

Under the kafala system, employees have their status in the country tied directly to their bosses; if you lose your job you have to leave.

Workers cannot change companies without the express permission of their initial employer in a document known as an ‘NOC letter’ – something which is rarely given.

“If I had a chance, I would transfer to another company,” Sanchez said.

“The management is not nice and they care only for themselves. Even if you get sick, they deduct the sick days from your salary.”

Workers need an official ‘exit permit’ signed by their employer to even leave the country – even if they are high-profile footballers – meaning that staff can be held as virtual prisoners in the desert state if they complain about abuses.

Most of the poorly paid non-academic support staff come from the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Kenya and Nepal.

Despite working in universities that teach courses on liberalism and social justice, people like Reyes and Sanchez have virtually no recourse to defend themselves against systemic abuses because of the Qatari legal system.

“It is simply inexcusable in one of the richest countries in the world, that so many migrant workers are being ruthlessly exploited,” Amnesty International’s secretary general Salil Shetty said in November, following the release of a report titled The Dark Side of Migration.

“Our findings indicate an alarming level of exploitation.”

 

Education City

Education City is financed by the Qatar Foundation an institution founded by Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, the mother of Qatar’s current Emir and one of the wives of its former leader.

The walled area outside of Doha boasts first-rate facilities for the students and well-paid faculty.

Western universities are earning large sums of money from Qatar in exchange for managing the campuses, effectively outsourcing their brands to garner legitimacy for what many consider an unsavory dictatorship with little respect for workers’ rights.

A well-placed source at Cornell University’s campus in Education City said the medical school’s main branch in Ithaca, New York is now receiving between 10-12 per cent of its funding directly from Qatar.

This gives the Qatari government significant power to influence university decisions, especially since the financial crisis damaged the endowments of many major US schools.

With a population of less than 350,000 citizens, Qatar’s GDP is thought to be around US$200 billion, built mostly on liquefied natural gas and oil exports to Europe and Asia.

With a total population of about two million, on a per capita basis, Qatar is the world’s richest country.

Following a string of media and human rights reports on labour abuses, Qatar has attempted to make small changes to avoid further bad press ahead of the World Cup in 2022.

“In the accommodation, we were eight people [living] in one room,” Reyes said. “One day they came from Qatar Foundation and made an inspection and reduced the roommates to four people in one room.”

Fear of negative attention from outside Qatar promoted this relative improvement in living conditions, she believes.

Employees subcontracted to Qatar Foundation told Equal Times that they generally enjoy their colleagues and other elements of the work environment.

They just want what they say they was promised by recruiters before coming to Qatar – something close to a living wage, regular hours and the right to change jobs if conditions become unbearable.

With the eyes of the world on Qatar during massive modernisation and infrastructure programmes ahead of the World Cup, workers at Education City say they believe change is possible – as long as the international community keeps up the pressure.

After all, they say, low wages in Qatar certainly don’t stem from a lack of money.

 

*Names of the workers have been changed to protect their identities. Under Qatar’s draft media law, statements (whether true or untrue) harming the commercial reputation of a person or company can be considered a crime.