Qatar: Abolish Exit Visas for Migrant Workers
hrw.org
hrw.org
This is a potential problem for every country. While western governments are considered much different than both Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the trajectory is leaning towards the paradigm those two countries occupy. This is of course, inequality, which is the measure that slavery falls onto one side at the end.
We can look at this policy as a policy, or we can have an intellectual argument on the merit of this type of governance. GOVERNMENT is literally what society as a whole, consents to being legitimate use of force. Military, Law, and Order.
No obviously we can assert that the power of the Sauds and the Thani is illegitimate today in the western world, because we ourselves have in our past moved away from the concentrated and hereditary control of power, into the hands of the super rich (the other end of the inequal spectrum).
So while I applaud hrw.org for pointing attention to this horrible policy, and more intellectually honest headline could read, "Qatar's People: Overthrow your illegitimate rulers.".
Any westerners who are reading this article and are upset or angry, need to fight against neo-feudalism in the US and European countries. The only way we can truly help the people of Qatar and Saudi Arabia is by stronghand political means. Not seeing anything from the US regarding these matters speaks volumes of their slide into neo-feudalism in my opinion. This is something seen both by anti-authoritarian leftists AND rightists(is this a word?).
Depends on the scope of "that", but...
Kingdom of Hanover (defunct), Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Liechtenstein, Virginia, Maryland, Georgia, Carolina (both), Alberta, Prince Edward Island, Victoria.
And of course Pennsylvania was named for founder William Penn.
Should we start in on cities?
Rather, both the Kingdom and the House of Hanover were named after the capital city of Hanover.
This is quite common for Western European royalty. Because they didn't have actual surnames, they used the location of the family seat. For example, the House of Windsor was named after Windsor Castle. The House of Habsburg-Lorraine was named after Habsburg Castle and the region of Lorraine. The House of Hohenzollern was named after Hohenzollern Castle.
1: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sim%C3%B3n_Bol%C3%ADvarl 2: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Chin
If FDR (the US president when Saudi Arabia was named) renamed the US, "The United States of Roosevelt" it would have raised some eyebrows.
The only contemporary item on your list is Jordan.
My question to you is that if feel like economical arguments trump moral/ethical arguments in terms of legitimate public policy?
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/video/2013/sep...
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/25/revealed-qatars...
I hope every true football fan boycotts Qatar 2022 and puts pressure on top players and FIFA to move the World Cup to more deserving countries.
The TV broadcasters are already objecting to the proposed winter move. It's just an awful decision on every level for everyone who wasn't being directly bribed by the Qataris.
I do maintain a tiny shred of hope that a few major nations will withdraw from FIFA after this summer, bringing the whole thing toppling down. It's a fantasy, though. Most football politicians are nearly as bad.
It might be true in the USA that sports pacify the population, but in the rest of the world you have football fans starting wars (real wars), overthrowing governments, politicians and dictators owning clubs (being a director of a football club is a legitimate stepping stone in a lot of European politics), etc.
At the football forums I am a regular the top topics recently have all been about Qatar, the World Cup bid, etc.
The only reason Human Rights Watch picked up this campaign (they are late to the party) is because The Guardian and its football writers started writing about Qatar (and the example of the player cited within) before and after they won the World Cup bid.
They're in a good company. Only other countries to have exit visa are North Korea and Uzbekistan. (In the latter, you can still travel to most former USSR neighbors without exit visa)
This seems to be doable workaround. This could be possibly even automated, perhaps start-up idea?
I do not think this could be changed politically, US and those states are best buddies and any serious political pressure would be vetoed.
I am guessing you haven't actually worked in Qatar or Saudi Arabia, the two Middle Eastern countries that retain exit visas. I have (Saudi Arabia), and I think it's really naive to think this is do-able, and even a little bit insulting to think a start-up could somehow solve what's going on here.
Let's consider the two alternatives: first of all, they are both no-goes for the type of workers who are trapped by exit visas. Placing a notice in two daily newspapers? Even if you manage to get that, you've then got to get the certificate. Getting any kind of official documentation out of the bureaucracy is next to impossible for someone who a) isn't a citizen of Qatar / Saudi, and b) has no wasta (which roughly translates into 'clout', or 'who you know').
Which brings us onto the other option: finding a Qatari national. The case cited in the article, of a French professional footballer, is rather unique. The vast majority of people unable to obtain exit visas are immigrant workers doing low-paid jobs no Qatari or Saudi wants to do. They are, for all intents and purposes, effectively slaves. I saw it with my own eyes when I was working there: indeed, I remember reading several stories of migrant workers trying to stow themselves away in planes out of Saudi.
So as an exploited worker let's say you manage to find a Qatari willing to sponsor your exit. Except you won't, for two reasons: firstly, no national would risk creating trouble with the state (especially in Saudi, which has a religious police force (the Muttaween), and even if you did find a national willing to help you (which again, would be virtually impossible) the chances are they'd have no wasta and would almost certainly end up in a dead end of paperwork and bureaucracy.
I met many good people in Qatar and Saudi: people who think the current system of 'government' (if you can call it that) is wrong, and that the large numbers of workers coming in from India, Indonesia, and the like are being exploited. But they are simply not able to do what you're suggesting - subvert the system - without serious and profound consequences.
...
[x] UK (can force people to hand over passwords)
[x] US (probability that they reject people at the border/airport for ridiculous reasons)
[x] Qatar (exit visa required)
[x] Saudi Arabia (exit visa required)
...
Even if I'm not sure if those exit visas also apply to short term visitors. Better safe than sorry.
Might want to add all these to your little list then:
> UK (can force people to hand over passwords)
You are aware that most, if not all countries can force you to hand over your passport? If you are arrested and bailed the government don't really want you trying to flee the country. Even if you're not arrested many courts can compel you to surrender your passport (for example, in a child custody case). Some countries will also make you surrender your passport if you're entering certain disputed territories (Chinese citizens, for example, must give up their passport when entering Taiwan).
and Turkmenistan.
Things take time in that part of the world
It turns out that progressive Saudi Arabia was far more forward-thinking when it comes to the abolition of slavery than I had imagined, they abolished slavery in 1962 not 1965...
But to answer your question, A LOT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolition_of_slavery_timeline#1...
(But also, ahem...http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/13thamendment.html)
All smart assery aside, even today you are in big trouble as a Filipino or Eastern European maid or nanny if you choose or are tricked into setting up shop in Saudi Arabia