Below we offer a review of the controversy over the rights of migrant workers in Qatar, which is hosting the 2022 Soccer World Cup from November 20 to December 18:
WHAT IS QATAR’S RECORD ON IMMIGRANT WORKERS’ RIGHTS?
* Qatar, where foreigners make up the majority of its 2.9 million people, has faced intense criticism from human rights groups over its treatment of migrant workers.
* A 48-page Amnesty report, known as Reality Check 2021, states that despite the 2014 labor reforms, practices such as wage withholding and charging workers to change jobs remain prevalent.
* Qatar’s government said its labor system was still under development, but denied allegations in the report that thousands of migrant workers in the 2022 FIFA World Cup host country were being trapped and exploited.
HOW MANY MIGRANT WORKERS HAVE DIED IN QATAR?
* Britain’s The Guardian newspaper reported last year that at least 6,500 migrant workers — many of them working on World Cup projects — had died in Qatar since it won the right to host the World Cup, according to the newspaper’s calculations from from official records.
* Qatar responded that the number of deaths was proportional to the volume of migrant labor and included many white-collar workers, adding that every life lost was a tragedy.
* Max Tunon, head of the Qatar office of the International Labor Organization (ILO), cautioned that data on Qatari worker deaths is often reported without the necessary nuance.
* “The figure (from The Guardian) includes all deaths in the migrant population (…) without differentiating between migrant workers and the migrant population in general, not to mention deaths that occurred as a result of work injuries,” he said. the ILO.
* Qatari World Cup organizers, the Supreme Committee for Organization and Legacy, stated that there had been three work-related deaths and 37 non-work-related deaths among workers at the 2022 World Cup venues.
* Hassan Al Thawadi, Secretary General of Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Organization and Legacy, stated in a television interview with British journalist Piers Morgan broadcast on November 30 that the number of deaths of migrant workers on World Cup-related projects was “between 400 and 500”.
* On December 8, Qatar opened an investigation into the death of a Filipino at a training site during the World Cup.
* The Philippine Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed in a statement that one of its citizens had died while working at a tourist complex south of the capital, Doha.
* A Kenyan security guard at Lusail Stadium died on December 13 after suffering a serious fall while working, tournament organizers said.
* The organizers added that medical teams immediately rushed to the scene and provided him with emergency treatment before taking him by ambulance to the intensive care unit at Hamad Medical Hospital, where he died.
WHAT CHANGES HAS QATAR MADE TO ITS LABOR LAWS?
* Qatar has changed its labor law to dismantle much of its “kafala” sponsorship system, exempting workers from the need to obtain permission from the employer who sponsored their visa to change jobs or leave the country.
* It has also increased the minimum wage by 25%, to 1,000 Qatari riyals ($274.65) a month, and applied it to all workers instead of just Qataris.
* Qatar has created an insurance fund to help migrants who have been cheated out of their wages.
HOW HAVE THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATIONS ADDRESSED THE PROBLEM?
* The soccer associations of 10 European countries, including England and Germany, wrote an open letter to FIFA ahead of the World Cup calling on world soccer’s governing body to take steps to improve the rights of migrant workers in Qatar.
* A group of 11 European football associations met with FIFA earlier this month, saying the governing body had confirmed its support for the creation of a permanent ILO office in Doha to support and advise migrant workers. .
* In September, the English Football Association declared that the families of migrant workers from Qatar who were injured or killed during the construction of the infrastructure for this year’s World Cup should be compensated.
* The Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) announced this month that the jerseys the Netherlands team will wear during the World Cup will be auctioned off to support migrant workers in Qatar.
* The Dutch national team said they will also take time during their stay in Qatar to talk to the migrants who helped build the World Cup stadiums.
WHAT MEASURES HAVE RIGHTS GROUPS SUGGESTED?
* Amnesty International and other human rights groups have called on FIFA to compensate Qatari migrant workers for human rights abuses by setting aside $440 million, an amount equivalent to World Cup prize money. .
* FIFA has stated that it was evaluating Amnesty’s proposal and launching an “unprecedented due diligence process in relation to the protection of the workers involved.”
* FIFA added that it was working with the organizing committee and had already compensated several workers.
* Amnesty has also outlined a 10-point action plan, calling on Qatar to “address the serious gaps and shortcomings that remain in its labor reform process.”
* More than thirty Nepali civil society groups wrote an open letter to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, urging him to “stop looking the other way” while denying compensation to migrant workers who “have suffered abuse in Qatar “, said Amnesty International.
* The letter was published on the Amnesty International website.