Human rights group Amnesty International has reported that construction operatives working on Qatar’s 2022 World Cup “continue to suffer abuse and exploitation”.
Last month an independent auditor published details of the continuing exploitation of migrant workers across the emirate’s World Cup projects.
Among the findings Amnesty has highlighted are:
- 79% of workers reported paying recruitment fees;
- Contractors making workers work excessive hours, with half not giving them rest days, including one person who worked continuously without a day off for almost five months (148 days);
- 25% of workers at one company said they felt unable to report health and safety concerns for fear of reprisal;
- Four of the 10 contractors surveyed were holding worker’s passports, which is potentially an offence under Qatari law.
Amnesty has previously described Qatar’s response to labour abuses as “woefully insufficient” and “risked being seen as PR stunt”.
James Lynch, deputy director of Amnesty’s Global Issues Programme, said: “Qatar’s World Cup organisers have placed special requirements on contractors that are supposed to stop this happening, but the reality is that workers on their sites still live under Qatar’s repressive sponsorship system, which gives employers powerful tools to abuse them.
“With hundreds of thousands more people being recruited to build and service at least seven more World Cup stadiums, along with the infrastructure to support the tournament, many more migrant workers are at serious risk over the next five years.
“An urgent rethink is needed to prevent labour abuse becoming the legacy of the 2022 World Cup.”
Read more from Amnesty here.
Image: Courtesy of The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy
