Joblessness among expats Dear Sir,It is being observed that the unemployment rate is increasing among expatriates in Qatar. Many of those who are coming to Qatar on visit, business and tourist visas, particularly from south Asian countries, intend to search for jobs and it is the reality that we have to accept. Also, some companies allow their workers to look for new jobs elsewhere in Qatar when their business isn’t doing well. It is also being observed that some companies, which have visas but don’t have projects in hand, trade in their visas to make money. It is understood, for instance, that they charge QR13,000 to 15,000 for visas to Indians, QR25,000 to QR30,000 to Bangladeshis. If you go through newspapers, you will find quarter or half page advertisements daily for “situation vacant” in the country as against more than three or more pages for “situation wanted”. The Labour Department issues visas to companies having projects in hand for five to 10 years as per their demand, both in private and public sectors.I urge authorities concerned to take some steps to sort out this problem. They should, for instance, develop an online database of candidates looking for jobs in Qatar. The applicants should be categorised as per their specialisation and experience.When any company makes an application for workers’ visas, the database should be checked to find out whether it has qualified people for such posts.If they are found in the databank, the Labour Department has just to hand over the companies the list of qualified candidates’ names. This will prevent misuse of visa allotments.MR(Full name and address supplied)Violation of rights Dear Sir, I am employed as a guard in a security company. I am sorry to state that the terms in our contracts are continuously being violated by the company.We are denied the rights related to annual leave, correct overtime wages, annual free passage to our home countries and appropriate accommodation. Even drinking water is not provided.The law states that we could approach the Ministry of Labour for assistance, but in reality it is difficult because of intimidation by company officials, failure to locate the relevant labour offices, language barrier and lack of time.MN(Full name and e-mail address supplied)