Qatar World Cup Continues its Gross Mistreatment of Migrant Workers

Qatar has not made enough of an improvement – or any significant improvement, for that matter – when it comes to migrant workers and the conditions they face on a day-to-day basis in being tasked with building the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup.

When it comes to the World Cup in Qatar, money is not the issue – the laborers are. They don't have enough manpower to build the structures required for an event such as a World Cup, so they import migrant workers from surrounding countries by the hundreds of thousands. The workers, who come from some of the poorest countries on earth, desperate to provide for their family, come to Qatar with the promise of a decent wage. A promise that is quickly realized to be falicy.

"Too little has been done to address rampant migrant labor abuse. Qatar's persistent labor reform delays are a recipe for human rights disaster," said Mustafa Qadri, Gulf Migrant Rights Researcher at Amnesty International.

"The reforms proposed by the government fail to tackle the central issues that leave so many workers at the mercy of employers, yet even these changes have been delayed.

"Unless action is taken – and soon – then every football fan who visits Qatar in 2022 should ask themselves how they can be sure they are not benefiting from the blood, sweat and tears of migrant workers."

In a report conducted by Amnesty back in May, they identified nine fundamental migrant labor rights issues. Qatar failed to address five of them. Three of those issues were as follows: receiving wages on time, expansion of the labor inspector force, and reform of the restrictive kafala sponsorship system––a system that essentially takes away all worker rights.

"Under the kafala system it is all too easy for an unscrupulous employer to get away with the late payment of salaries, housing workers in squalid and cramped housing, or threatening workers who complain about their conditions," said Mustafa Qadri, via Amnesty Inernational. "That is why kafala requires a major overhaul, not just tinkering at the edges."

The safety of the Qatari workers has been at the forefront of the conversation ever since Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup bid some five years ago. And, if the workforce continues to grow as expected, it's estimated that upwards of 4,000 workers could die before the World Cup kicks off in 2022.

FIFA, who has been under heavy scrutiny since the arrests of several key officials back in May, once again find themselves under the microscope. Mustafa Qadri called upon FIFA to take the necessary steps to reconcile the situation.

"FIFA may be moving to new leadership in 2016, but it will not be able to get past its current challenges until it makes it clear that Qatar's hosting of the World Cup is contingent on respect for human rights."