By Tendai Makaripe
2022 FIFA World cup hosts Qatar are in the spotlight once again with disturbing reports that migrant workers involved in the building of stadiums are being treated like modern day slaves.
Documents from Nepal’s embassy in Qatar allege that about 370 000 Nepalese, the second largest group of labourers in Qatar after Indians, faced “modern-day slavery” and that dozens had died in recent weeks.
Beyond the fatalities, critics also slam the confiscation of passports, withholding wages for long periods, debts to recruiters, insufficient drinking water in scorching temperatures, and squalid camps for labourers.
These reports have prompted the world soccer governing body, FIFA, to urgently meet behind closed doors to try and rectify the problem.
FIFA boss Sepp Blatter is expected to brief journalists today about the outcome of its two-day executive committee session at its Zurich base.
In April, the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee announced that it had devised a ‘workers charter’ to protect labour rights. But its details were not shared with the public or trades unions, leading the International Trades Union Confederation (ITUC) to profess itself “very disappointed”.
Pressure is now mounting as campaigners are charging that workers are paying with their lives to prepare for the world’s biggest tournament in soccer.
With Qatar’s actual stadium-building programme yet to begin, the deaths are not directly related to the football side of the World Cup, FIFA communications chief Walter De Gregorio underlined.
“But any death is a death too many,” he said. “We are very much aware of the situation.”
“Together, I think, we’re going to find a solution to improve, or maybe to change, the situation that for sure, for everybody, is unacceptable,” he said.
Qatari government statistics indicate that some 1.2 million migrant workers make up 94% of the workforce.
A million new foreign workers are expected to arrive in Qatar over the next decade to help build nine new stadiums and the €15 billion of roads needed by 2022.
If something is not done as a matter of urgency the situation will escalate out of control so the world governing body should see to it that they work hand in hand to resolve the crisis something they have since pledged to do.
“We’re trying to put pressure on Qatar to change a situation which is unacceptable for all concerned. But I want to highlight that it’s not FIFA against Qatar.
“We’re all on the same page, trying to change the situation for the better of everyone. Qatar can change, and Qatar is very open to all discussions we’re having,” said De Gregorio.
“When you reach the point where people die, it always raises issues of humanity. Is this acceptable? Of course it isn’t. The government has said so quite clearly.
“We are going to ensure the security, the protection and the honour of everyone. We’ve worked to that pledge, will continue to do so, and will always give it the utmost priority,” said Hassan Al Thawadi, head of Qatar’s World Cup committee.
However, many human rights activists feel that Qatar is not doing enough and have since began pushing FIFA to take action.
Four dozen Swiss and international trade union activists hammered home the message by rallying at FIFA’s gates, brandishing referee-style red cards.
Qatar is reported to have commissioned a probe by global law firm DLA Piper, saying it takes its international commitments seriously, and announced plans to double its number of labour inspectors to 150.
This has not really satisfied the International Trade Union Confederation, which raised the alarm in August and is sending a delegation to Qatar next week.
“There are already labour inspectors and they have no impact,” said its head Sharan Burrow.
“The construction frenzy for the football World Cup risks costing the lives of at least 4,000 workers over the next seven years if steps are not taken to guarantee the rights of migrant workers,” she added.
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