(Beirut) – Migrant staff and their families are being reimbursed by FIFA and the Qatari government for abuses, adding to unexplained deaths suffered by staff in preparation for the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch released a five-minute pre-tournament video report, which kicks off on November 20, 2022, in which Nepalese staff and their families and football fans speak.
Unlike past tournaments, the sensations around the 2022 World Cup in Nepal and in the countries of the house, where football is very celebrated, go beyond the joy of watching the game. For the Nepalese noted in the video, and for those in other countries who sent staff to prepare for the 12-year World Cup, their realities are connected to the sacrifices they made. They come with parents who were unable to see their children for years to earn money to fund their education, staff who endured hard physical labor for long hours in the excessive heat of Qatar, and the families of staff who died of unexplained causes. As Kshitiz Sigdel, an avid soccer fan and founder of an amateur club in Kathmandu, told Human Rights Watch: “Migrant staff are the backbone not only of Nepal’s economy through remittances, but also the backbone of Qatar’s economy.
“Migrant staff were indispensable in making the 2022 World Cup possible, but it came at a high cost for many migrant workers and their families who only made private sacrifices, but also faced widespread wage theft, injuries and thousands of unexplained deaths. “” said Rothna Begum, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Many migrant staff, their families and communities cannot fully celebrate what they have built and call on FIFA and Qatar to address the abuses of staff who have left families and communities destitute and in distress. “
Among those speaking in the video is Hari, whose call was replaced on condition of anonymity, a structures employee in Qatar for 14 years who has worked on several structures sites that added Al Janoub Stadium. He says Doha’s Lusail community was empty when he arrived. in Qatar, but now it’s full of towers. ” We built those towers,” he says, adding that when he ran in the excessive heat of Qatar, he had to “drain the water (sweat) from his shoes. “
Hari left Nepal for Qatar when her son was just 6 months old and missed most stages of her son’s life, seeing him only five times in 14 years. “My son didn’t recognize me when I first returned to Nepal,” she said. However, his absence of 14 years, witnessed and contributed to the dramatic transformation of Qatar that allowed him to be a greater provider for his children, adding his son, who dreams of being a professional footballer and loves the Portugal national team.
Ram Pukar Sahani, himself a former migrant employee from Qatar, learned of his father’s death in Qatar from a friend. Incredulous, he called his father’s number in Qatar. His father’s friend responded, confirming the devastating news. “I dropped my phone and fainted,” she recalls through tears. He says his father died on a construction site in his uniform, but that he was not entitled to reimbursement because his death certificate said “acute failure of the center due to herbal death. “
Under Qatar’s hard work law, deaths attributed to “natural causes” without proper investigation are not considered work-related and are not compensated. Like the families of many other employees who don’t know what killed their loved ones, he says, “How can someone so healthy and strong just die?I didn’t hear the news. “
For each and every circle of family members willing to share their stories of loss publicly, many others quietly face similar catastrophic losses, Human Rights Watch said.
Many staff members have fallen victim to rampant wage theft. A painter who went on strike to protest unpaid wages despite concerns about reprisals said: “We want two things. Regular paintings and normal payment for the paintings made. Unfortunately, neither is guaranteed. “in Qatar, especially if you get a bad employer.
In reaction to this information, the International Labour Organization (ILO) reported that the Qatari government had reimbursed US$320 million to victims of wage abuse through the Workers’ Insurance and Support Fund. But the fund only went live in 2020. For many other painters, their adventure ended abruptly with unpaid wages for physically difficult paintings in the excessive heat.
Employers and recruiters in Qatar have been able to abuse and exploit migrant staff’s distress and lack of opportunities in their own country under the kafala (sponsorship) system, which gives employers disproportionate control over staff, Human Rights Watch said. In one of the world’s richest countries, migrant staff lived in poverty in overcrowded housing. Despite the construction of a multibillion-dollar infrastructure, most low-wage migrant staff have “paid to build” the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Families in Asia and Africa have been kept in the dark about what killed their loved ones in Qatar.
The Qatari government has announced primary labor and kafala reforms; however, many migrant staff members appropriated them, either because they were brought in late, poorly implemented, or because the projects of the Supreme Committee, the government entity guilty of preparing for the World Cup, were too limited in scope. They have fallen through the cracks want monetary compensation, Human Rights Watch said.
Basanta Sunuwar, a Nepali who worked for six years in Qatar, describes himself as a hardcore German fan and founder of a football fan club. He says in the video that he considers himself one of Qatar’s luckiest immigrants and makes a strong case for reimbursement. Fund for Unsolved Abuses.
“They gave their work and in return they get their rights,” he says. What is their right now that they have lost their lives?It is a compensation. This is my humble request to FIFA and Qataris, as a football fan.
One football fan, Sigdel, said: “Why don’t you agree to pay [compensation]?It’s not about paying and not paying. You have to pay. “
FIFA, which expects billions of dollars in profits from the games and has human rights responsibilities, has not committed to creating an appeals fund. Instead, he rebuked football associations and players who called on FIFA for migrant workers to create a reimbursement fund. , telling them to “concentrate on football”. The Qatari government opposes the fund, but has knowledge and mechanisms in place that can be used to build and expand systems to deal with abuses.
“With a week to go until the World Cup, FIFA’s strategy of burying its head in the sand and buying time, in the hope that the excitement of adjustment will overshadow human rights violations, is doomed to failure,” Begum said. , especially from home countries, the tournament will be a reminder of the cost, and the only way FIFA and the Qatari government can leave a positive legacy is to dedicate themselves to a compensation fund to overcome abuses. “