Human Rights Watch: Migrant Workers World Cup Qatar Still Treated Badly | NOW

Foreign employees working in Qatar on preparations for the 2022 World Cup are still being treated badly, despite promises from the government, according to a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW). The number of labor migrants traveling to Qatar to work under great promises has increased sharply with the prospect of the World Cup.

Human Rights Watch spoke for it report with over ninety labor migrants from sixty different companies. Among them were, in addition to builders of stadiums and roads, also employees who worked in restaurants, for example. Everyone reported some form of abuse: unpaid overtime, arbitrary wage reduction, withholding wages or not getting paid at all.

The main cause of these problems is the so-called kafala system, which is still widely used in the country. Under this system, employees are completely dependent on their employer as a sponsor.

The labor migrants often come from very poor countries such as India, Nepal, Philippines, Bangladesh, Kenya and Uganda. There they are ‘lured’ to Qatar by special employment offices with the promise of a better future or higher salaries, to support their families in their home country.

They often have to make a substantial down payment for this – equal to a number of monthly salaries (the minimum wage for full-time work is around 175 euros per month) – so that their future employer can be sure that they will show up. However, this deposit is also often used as a big stick to keep employees in the country.

According to HRW, labor migrants often do not have much choice. Under the kafala system, they have handed in their passport to the sponsor, who also immediately provides housing and airline tickets. Moreover, some migrant workers are only allowed to leave the accommodation for work.

Overtime not paid

One interviewee said in the HRW report that she was not paid for months and was unable to buy food because of this, even though she worked 12 hours a day. Her overtime wages were also withheld. Before her departure back to the Philippines, her employer said that she will no longer receive her first and last salary because they pay for the tickets. It was previously agreed that the employer would take care of this.

According to HRW, employers use a ‘pay when paid’ method: this ensures that subcontractors only pay their staff (the migrant workers) after they have been paid by the main contractors, which can sometimes take a long time. As a result, the poorest, temporary residents of Qatar fall victim to a large corporate hierarchy.

The Qatari economy is largely dependent on workers from abroad; there are more than two million migrant workers in the country, roughly 95 percent of the total labor market. There have already been published in recent years multiple reports about the dire situation of migrant workers in the oil-rich country.

KNVB sees no reason to change its position

The Dutch national team may travel to the World Cup in 2022, although the official qualification has yet to take place. NU.nl asked the KNVB whether the union takes a position on the situation of labor migrants there.

According to the KNVB, the HRW reports are valuable for addressing the problem in the country, but there is no question of a possible boycott. “Since World War II, not a single World Cup final tournament has been boycotted by a country for political reasons. In addition, a boycott is a way to put a problem on the map. It is precisely because of the World Cup that this situation is already on the radar for many.”

Qatar: Cases in report are exceptions

A spokesman for the government of Qatar said in a response to NU.nl that the HRW report is incorrect. “Virtually everyone who comes to Qatar to look for work never experiences any problems with payments. The cases (in the HRW report, ed.) Are isolated exceptions. In addition, defaults by employers have already been greatly reduced by new rules.”

“HRW did not contact us until the report was ready. If they had spoken to us before, we could have solved the problems of the employees in the report immediately. A retrospective report does not help. The recommendations in the HRW report have been or are already being implemented by Qatar. “

However, according to HRW, many employees do not dare to do this for fear of revenge by employers. Moreover, the procedures are difficult, expensive and time consuming.

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