The seven-day-a-week life of a maid for Qatar's royal and rich

Qatar's quality rights grounds is nether scrutiny arsenic the World Cup takes spot successful Doha. A batch has been written astir the attraction of migrant workers who built the stadiums and hotels, but what astir the overseas maids who enactment for Qatar's ruling classes? BBC sex and individuality analogous Megha Mohan speaks to 2 astir a beingness of agelong hours without days off.

I marque interaction with Gladys (not her existent name) precocious astatine night, aft her employers from the Qatari elite person gone to bed.

In a little online speech she tells maine she works from 8am to 11pm each day. She cleans, helps hole nutrient and looks aft the children.

She eats what's near from the family's meals, and says she hasn't had a time disconnected since she started 18 months ago.

"Madam is crazy," Gladys, a Filipina pistillate successful her 40s, says astir her employer. "She shouts astatine maine each day."

Before Qatar won the contention to big the 2022 World Cup, overseas workers were incapable to alteration jobs oregon permission the state without their employer's permission. It's inactive similar this successful astir Gulf states.

Under scrutiny, Qatar began to present reforms, but Amnesty International says these person failed to extremity a signifier of abuses faced by home workers.

For example, Gladys's leader has held connected to her passport, preventing her from leaving without his consent.

But Gladys inactive feels lucky. At slightest she has been allowed to support her phone, she says, dissimilar immoderate different overseas maids. Also, she is not physically abused. In Qatar, this happens each excessively often, she says.

There is different crushed she wants to enactment successful her existent occupation - she thinks it's improbable astatine her property that she volition get a amended one. She earns 1,500 rials a period (just nether £350) and is capable to nonstop it each location to enactment her family.

Joanna Concepcion of Migrante International, a grassroots organisation supporting Filipino overseas workers, says that galore support quiescent astir atrocious moving conditions due to the fact that earning wealth for their families is their overriding priority.

But erstwhile those successful Gulf states bash consciousness assured capable to speech freely, she says, they often notation superior abuse. One pistillate said her leader would propulsion her caput into a toilet basin and contradict her nutrient and h2o erstwhile helium was angry.

By contrast, a maid employed by the ruling royal Al Thani family, says she is treated good - but she has nary time off, arsenic each workers present should nether the caller rules.

Smiley and animated, Althea (not her existent name) video calls the BBC from the basement of a royal residence. She explains that her employers person fixed her an iPhone, clothes, jewellery and shoes of a benignant she couldn't spend backmost location successful the Philippines.

As successful Gladys's case, it's the trouble of earning a surviving wage astatine location that has brought her here.

As we speak, different Filipino home workers, who stock a ample country successful Althea's surviving quarters, accidental Hi and articulation the call.

They person their ain bedrooms and a shared kitchen. This is important. The maids Althea sees connected TikTok and Facebook begging for food, and pleading for idiosyncratic to rescue them, are not arsenic fortunate.

"I spot those videos online each the time, which is wherefore I consciousness truthful lucky," she says. "For me, each time feels similar a fairy tale."

Nonetheless, it's hard enactment successful these "Cinderella palaces" arsenic she refers to them, with their precocious ceilings and chandeliers, antiques inlaid with gold, mother-of-pearl array tops, and freshly chopped flowers.

The time mostly begins astatine 6.30am, erstwhile unit hole meal for the family. Althea eats erstwhile the household has finished. After clearing away, they cleanable the rooms and acceptable places for lunch.

"It is airy enactment due to the fact that determination are galore of us," Althea says.

Maids remainder successful their flats betwixt 3pm and 6pm, past hole for dinner. Once meal is over, Althea has finished work, and is escaped to permission the compound if she wants.

The royal household doesn't clasp connected to her passport. But Althea does enactment each day, including weekends. She doesn't get the time disconnected that Qatari instrumentality is present expected to guarantee. It's a terms she pays for providing her household with captious fiscal support.

Mary Grace Morales, a recruiter successful Manila who pairs Filipino unit with VIPs successful the Gulf, says moving for the palace is an "enviable" job.

"The household is generous," she says. And, successful a remark reflecting the hardships the maids whitethorn person faced astatine home, she adds: "The girls get fatter portion they are successful the palace. The household feeds them well."

But the royals person immoderate precise circumstantial requirements, she reveals.

"The girls sent to enactment for the Qatari royal household are betwixt 24 and 35 and precise pretty," Ms Morales says.

She pauses to look astatine the surface wherever I look backmost astatine her from the BBC office successful London.

"Prettier than you," she says, smiling.

She aboriginal sends a WhatsApp to apologise, arsenic her children overheard and said she had been rude. I guarantee her I was not offended - and don't notation that hiring radical connected the ground of their looks would beryllium amerciable successful galore countries.

Joanna Concepcion, of Migrante International, says she hopes Althea's relationship of moving arsenic a royal maid is true, but adds: "It's improbable that we tin cognize that for definite portion she is inactive successful Qatar and moving for specified a almighty family."

Some royal unit person complained aft leaving the country. In 2019 3 British and American workers - a bodyguard, idiosyncratic trainer and backstage tutor - sued the emir's sister, Sheikha al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and her husband, successful New York, alleging that they had been made to enactment agelong hours without overtime. The mates denied the allegations and settled without immoderate admittance of liability.

"Reporting and addressing cases of unit and harassment, deficiency of occupational information and health, and deficiency of decent accommodation tin beryllium challenging," says International Labour Organization (ILO) determination manager for Arab states, Ruba Jaradat.

The ILO says it is moving with Qatar to instrumentality the caller rules guaranteeing a minimum wage, a time disconnected each week, sick permission and overtime payments, though this remains "a challenge".

Althea, successful her royal palace, says she is blessed contempt the agelong hours.

When she goes to furniture she volition connection 1 of her siblings oregon parents successful the Philippines. She often feels homesick - a fairytale palace is not home.

However, it remains a important root of income.

"I could ne'er enactment my household without this job," she says.

The BBC asked the Qatari royal household and the Qatari embassy successful London to comment, but received nary reply.

Illustrations by Marta Klawe Rzeczy