Doha: Ambassadors from five Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) member countries in Doha met recently and discussed a proposal to form an informal grouping.
The idea is to collectively raise labour and related issues with Qatar and other GCC states as the five Saarc member countries are the largest manpower exporters to this region.
The countries include India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Saarc has seven members, but the remaining two countries, namely, Bhutan and Maldives, do not either have diplomatic missions here or workers.
The idea to bring Saarc envoys in Doha together was mooted by A L Mohamed Yousuf, the ambassador of Sri Lanka, and the informal meet was held in the Sri Lankan embassy premises last week.
Contacted for his comments yesterday, Yousuf confirmed the envoys met and decided to refer the proposal to their respective governments for approval.
"We are awaiting responses from our respective countries," said the Sri Lankan envoy in remarks to The Peninsula. According to him, as the Bangladeshi ambassador was not present, the country was represented at the get-together by charge'd affaires Mohamed Enayat Hosain.
"It was an informal exchange of ideas to work out a common approach to solve the problems of our workers," Yousuf clarified, stressing that based on the response from their respective governments the ambassadors would go ahead with the idea.
It may be recalled that a few years ago ambassadors from 10 Asian countries in Doha had made a similar effort and grouped themselves. The countries included, aside from the five Saarc members, the Philippines, South Korea and Japan, among others.
The forum is still intact and the envoys keep holding periodical meetings but apart from the Philippines, which has a large workforce in Qatar, Japan and Korea, for instance, do not have any sizeable population and they have more of business interest here than anything else.
According to Yousuf, the intention to have an informal lobby of Saarc envoys in Doha is to improve existing relations between their countries and Qatar.
The idea, he said, could also work at the GCC level provided their governments agreed. "We can provide valuable inputs from our end".
A lack of basic amenities and overcrowding in labour camps and problems like non-payment of salaries, overwork and protection to domestic workers are some of the common woes South Asian workers face in the GCC.
These problems can be taken up collectively by Saarc member states if a relevant forum is available, said Yousuf, adding that he felt encouraged by the progress SAARC nations have recently made in cementing ties among themselves.
© The Peninsula 2004
