Qatari authorities risk falling behind on their promise to tackle widespread labor exploitation of thousands of migrant workers, Amnesty International warned, with less than four years to go until the 2022 World Cup.
Deputy Director of Global Issues at the organization Stephen Cockburn called on Doha to adopt a labor system that ends the abuse and misery inflicted upon so many migrant workers every day.
Amnesty warned that time is running out if the Qatari authorities want to deliver a “legacy we can all cheer.”
It called on FIFA to take responsibility to both prevent abuses and address those that have occurred as a result of their business operations linked to the World Cup.
It added that FIFA should not only ensure that labor rights are respected during the construction of World Cup stadiums, but also use “its leverage to ensure rights are respected in a broader range of infrastructure projects needed for delivery of the 2022 World Cup, such as the cooling systems or accommodation complexes..or related transport projects.”
FIFA should also proactively seek to influence the Qatari authorities to fully and quickly deliver on their promised reforms, added Amnesty.
The organization is calling on Qatar to fully abolish the kafala sponsorship system which, despite a few recent changes, continues to tie workers to unscrupulous employers for up to five years.
The authorities also ended the requirement for employees to obtain an “exit permit” requiring their employer’s permission to be able to leave the country for most migrant workers.
The NGO pleaded authorities to protect more than 174,000 domestic workers employed in private households in Qatar.
“Their isolation in the home away from the public gaze and their direct dependence on their employer means they are particularly exposed to being exploited and abused.”
Last September, Amnesty issued a report stating that dozens of foreign workers had not received their wages and work benefits, leaving them stranded and penniless in Qatar.
Working conditions of foreign workers in the projects related to the 2022 World Cup has been criticized by many organizations.
Despite the intervention of international unions and human rights organizations to demand an end to the repeated tragedies in construction sites, violations of foreign workers rights did not stop.
Over the past years, NGOs and trade unions have been constantly struggling to highlight the plight of Qatar's foreign workers, who work without health care and safety, making them vulnerable to epidemics, disease and even death.
