2022 FIFA WC: Damning Amnesty report says workers still exploited in Qatar

Amnesty International has published a new report Monday stating that exploitation of migrant workers is still rampant in Qatar with just a year to go for the start of the FIFA World Cup there.

Thousands of workers are currently “trapped and exploited” despite Qatar passing two laws last year to end restrictions on migrant labourers leaving the country or changing jobs.

The global human rights organisation has called on FIFA and its 2022 World Cup brand ambassador David Beckham to put pressure on Qatar to fulfil its promise of ensuring labourers have their rights.

Migrant workers in Qatar, mostly from poorer countries, are still experiencing exploitation under the ‘kafala’ sponsorship system, said Amnesty in its 48-page report titled Reality Check 2021.

It has accused authorities of “complacency” in applying the laws to end the system that binds workers to their employers. The nation had given assurances to FIFA last year that the Kafala system would be abolished in return for being allowed to host the tournament, which starts on November 21.

Besides allowing workers to change jobs or leave the country without their employer’s permission, the reforms had also included a clause that regulated working hours, minimum wage and a tribunal to address labour abuse.

The report quotes one migrant labourer as saying she was threatened by her employer when she wanted to change jobs and told her she had to pay 6,000 Qatari riyals for a no-objection certificate. The amount is five times her monthly salary.

The Guardian quotes Amnesty’s global issues programme director Mark Dummett as saying: “They have little hope of remedy, compensation or justice. After the World Cup, the fate of the workers who remain in Qatar will be even more uncertain.”

“Qatar is one of the richest countries in the world but its economy depends on the two million migrant workers who live there.

“By sending a clear signal that labour abuses will not be tolerated, penalising employers who break laws and protecting workers’ rights, Qatar can give us a tournament that we can all celebrate. But this is yet to be achieved,” said Dummett.

Amnesty has said that progress to make labour reforms has stagnated over the last year and that “old and abusive practices have resurfaced”.

The most common practice was the withholding of salaries and benefits that would make it harder for workers to leave their jobs.

Moreover, Amnesty has also reported that there are cases of sexual abuse, rape, severe harm, cruelty, unsanitary conditions and numerous deaths in not just Qatar but also other Gulf countries.

This report comes three months after another damning report published by Amnesty in August, which said that there were thousands of “unexplained” deaths of migrant workers in Qatar in recent years, and criticised the nation for its failure to investigate these deaths.

The Qatar government released a lengthy statement, stating that it rejected Amnesty’s report, insisting that the labour reforms have been effective in ending exploitation and citing measures that have been successful in ending the ‘Kafala’ system.

“Qatar rejects Amnesty's assertion that labour reforms have not translated into changes on the ground for hundreds of thousands of migrant workers,” said the statement.

“Amnesty fails to document a single story from among the 242,870 workers who have successfully changed jobs since barriers were removed in September 2020, or from the more than 400,000 workers who have directly benefitted from the new minimum wage through salary increases and other financial incentives.

“Labour reform is a complex task, and Qatar believes that solutions are best found through dialogue and engagement. For this reason, and despite Amnesty's criticism, Qatar will continue to work constructively with a range of labour experts and practitioners to build on the progress that has been made.”