(Beirut) – Qatar and FIFA, on the eve of the World Cup, failed to address the abuses and unexplained deaths of migrant staff that made the occasion possible, Human Rights Watch said today. Migrant workers, their families, journalists and expert workers from countries of origin spoke out about the abuses and called for an appeals fund, drawing audiences from 15 countries, more than a dozen football associations, five sponsors, political leaders, high-profile players and fans.
The soccer World Cup begins on November 20, 2022 and the country’s ability to welcome an unprecedented 1. 2 million visitors to Qatar depends on the contributions of millions of migrant workers. those who died in home countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa called on FIFA and Qatar to perform in a five-minute video and at a news conference on Nov. 17.
“When the World Cup begins, migrant staff and their families, players, and enthusiasts will bear the brunt of the human cost of the tournament,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. A cure while racking up billions of dollars in profits has left everything in plain sight in Qatar, from roads to stadiums, as reminders of the migrant staff who built and delivered the Games but earned their salaries or died unable to pay their families.
Over the past six months, Human Rights Watch and a coalition of rights organizations have led a global crusade to call on FIFA and the Qatari government to redress abuses against migrant workers, including wage theft, injuries, and uncompensated deaths over the past 12 years. .
The Qatari government has pursued vital labour reforms in recent years, but they have come too late, are too limited in scope, or have been implemented too weakly for many employees to benefit. “The saddest component of the Qatar World Cup [is] that most of those reforms were only aimed at silencing complaints from foreign countries,” said Yasin Kakande, a Ugandan journalist who has covered labor abuses in Qatar. “
In November, Qatar’s government opposed the appeal, calling it a “publicity stunt. “FIFA said it was willing to provide an appeal fund that has not yet been publicly dedicated ahead of the opening matches. funds” from the World Cup for aid projects after the events, adding a total of $260 million in South Africa, Brazil and Russia.
“We built those towers,” a Nepalese migrant employee told Human Rights Watch. He said Doha’s Lusail community was empty when he arrived in Qatar 14 years ago, but is now full of towers, adding that when running in the excessive heat of Qatar, he had to “spill water [sweat] from his shoes. “
Over the past 12 years, journalists, social workers and civil society organizations have sounded the alarm about abuses in Qatar, documented the stories of migrant workers and helped lend a hand and repatriate others or their bodies to their families. Many have called for opposing abuses by Qatar and FIFA.
“The World Cup started in 2010 and now we are in 2022,” said Rejimonn Kuttapan, an Indian journalist specializing in migrant rights. “In 20 days, everything [the games] will be over.
Ram Pukar Sahani, a former migrant who worked in stadiums in Qatar and whose father, Ganga Sahani, died there, said: “My father died while running on the [construction site] in his uniform. I have a picture. But the death certificate indicates an herbal death and a failure of the center.
Ram Pukar Sahai’s circle of relatives has not obtained any reimbursement from his father’s employer or from Qatar. His father’s employer didn’t even bother to call to inform the circle of relatives about the death or to offer his condolences.
“It turns out that FIFA and Qatar were hoping to run out of time on appeal due to migrant staff until the world’s attention was focused on the excitement of the tournament,” Page said. “But many other people who watch those games won’t be the staff who died, or the families who struggle without an employee to pay the bills, or the ones who can no longer send their children to school. “
Shariful Hasan, head of migration and youth projects at BRAC, an advocacy organization in Bangladesh, said more than 1,300 Bangladeshi employees have been killed in Qatar over the past decade, with many of the deaths due to attacks at the center. “We have to answer to the other people who have died, not only in Qatar, but in any country in the Middle East,” he said. “We can’t bear this pain. . . It’s not just the harsh paintings of migrants; it’s his blood. It’s his life. “
“The loss of family circle members and the dehumanizing reports that emerged from the 2022 World Cup will not be forgotten long after the tournament ends,” Page said. “But Qatar and FIFA can still take steps to deal with migrant staff and families. harmed in the procedure and build reforms so that the epidemic of abuse of migrant employees can end. “