QATAR– The Arab nation had recently been accused of human rights violations due to migrant workers that had died in the process of building the grant football stadium and infrastructure for the FIFA World Cup 2022.
In 2010, the World Cup was awarded to Qatar. According to the International Trade Union Confederation 1,200 migrant laborers had already died due to the disgraceful working conditions by 2013. If nothing changes by the time the tournament kicks off, the numbers will reach 4,000.
It has been suggested that the toll is actually higher but the Qatari government continues to deny allegations that workers had died working on the construction of the world cup stadium for the event. The report states that casualties were for all constructions across Qatar in the span of two years, but other witnesses argued that all the constructions claimed were in fact in service of building for the World Cup.
This is a lot higher in comparison to developing countries that had built frameworks of the other FIFA Stadiums in the past.
The best examples are the 2014 World Cup in Brazil who claimed 10 lives in construction accidents and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa who only reported 1 casualty.
Qatar has had a controversial history of human rights records with overwhelming evidence regarding the bribery scheme to beat the United States in the final round. Members of the executive committee of FIFA have been disbanded after being accused of taking bribes from the Qatari government in relation to the World Cup that is to happen in 2022.
Many believe Qatar as the host for the tournament would pose a problem as the weather is expected to be at a high temperature around that time of the year, However, the game being rescheduled to around November and December would still have people in doubt.
Qatar had promised a lot of times to change their system by which they import large labor forces from poverty-stricken nations, including the abolishing of one kind of indentured servitude called the Kafala System, but there was a ferocious report from Human Rights Watch again.
There are 2 million migrant workers who serve just 313,000 citizens in Qatar.
Many are working mostly in the construction and service industry at the World Cup.
In the Human Rights Watch report, it was stated that:
In exchange for this labor, they are only guaranteed a minimum wage of 750 Qatari riyals ($206) per month, which, when paid on time and in full, is barely enough for many workers to pay back recruitment debts, support families back home, and afford basic needs while in Qatar. On top of this, employers’ wage abuses leave many in perilous circumstances.
Human Rights Watch spoke to 93 migrant workers working for 60 different employers and companies between January 2019 and May 2020, all of whom reported some form of wage abuse by their employer such as unpaid overtime, arbitrary deductions, delayed wages, withholding of wages, unpaid wages, or inaccurate wages.
The findings in this report show that across Qatar, independent employers, as well as those operating labor supply companies, frequently delay, withhold, or arbitrarily deduct workers’ wages. Employers often withhold contractually guaranteed overtime payments and end-of-service benefits, and they regularly violate their contracts with migrant workers with impunity. In the worst cases, workers told Human Rights Watch that employers simply stopped paying their wages, and they often struggled to feed themselves.
Allegations have been confirmed for a long time yet, FIFA has not done any action regarding the issue.
