A bid to widen labor protections for Filipinos employed in Qatar took shape in Geneva last week, when senior officials from Manila and Doha sat down on the margins of the International Labour Organization’s annual gathering.
The discussion took place on June 5, 2026, at Qatar’s Permanent Mission in the Swiss city, drawing together Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Undersecretary Jainal Rasul Jr. and Sheikha Najwa bint Abdulrahman Al Thani, who serves as Undersecretary at Qatar’s Ministry of Labor. The two met while the 114th Session of the International Labour Conference was under way, a tripartite event that brought delegates from 187 member states to Geneva from June 1 to 12.
Recruitment practices figured prominently in their exchange. Both officials weighed how to keep hiring channels fair and free of abuse, an area Manila has repeatedly flagged as central to keeping migrant Filipinos out of exploitative arrangements before they ever leave home.
Beyond recruitment, the conversation extended to the legal and institutional safeguards available to workers once they are on the ground in Qatar. The officials looked at how the two governments might tighten their working relationship and pursue joint efforts aimed at defending the rights of overseas Filipinos.
The encounter was not the first between the same two officials. Rasul met Sheikha Najwa in Doha in July 2025, a courtesy call that similarly touched on worker protection mechanisms and avenues for closer labor cooperation, according to an account the Philippine Embassy in Qatar posted on Facebook at the time.
Closing the Geneva meeting, the two sides restated a shared pledge to keep coordinating and to back measures that protect the welfare and dignity of Filipinos working in the Gulf state.
