Qatar World Cup: A Catalyst for Change for Human Rights?

Qatar has come under heavy scrutiny from human rights groups over its treatment of migrant workers, however the tournament's hosting committee argue that the World Cup has allowed the country to make progress on issues related to workers' rights. But has anything improved?

Qatar's government claim that around 30,000 migrant labourers have been used on projects to build seven stadiums for the finals in Qatar, as well as a new airport, new metro and new roads,100 new hotels and an entire new city that is being built around the stadium which will host the final match. These migrants are mainly from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and the Philippines.

However, human rights organisation Amnesty International says hundreds of thousands of migrant workers have faced human rights abuses while employed and that many of them haven't been paid. Recently 60 labourers took part in a protest claiming that they had not been paid for seven weeks, with some protesters detained, whilst others were deported.

As the BBC reported in 2016, Amnesty International accused Qatari companies of using forced labour. It said many workers were living in squalid accommodation, were forced to pay huge recruitment fees and had had wages withheld and their passports confiscated.

Since 2017, the government has introduced measures to protect foreign labourers from working in very hot weather, limit their working hours, and improve conditions in workers' camps. However Human Rights Watch published a report in 2021 stating that migrant workers will still having their wages deducted illegally and faced "months of unpaid wages for long hours of gruelling work".

Under the old system of 'kafala' Qatari companies sponsored foreign workers to come to the country but then prevented them from leaving their jobs. The Qatari government abolished this system after receiving pressure from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), however companies still put pressure on labourers to stop them switching employers, which Amnesty International argues means forced labour effectively still exists in the country.

Embassies across Qatar reported that by February 2021, 6.500 migrant workers had died whilst working on World Cup construction projects, however the government claimed that this figure was inaccurate and that many of those migrants were not involved in World Cup projects at all - instead claiming that the figure was 37, and actually only 3 were work-related!

However the ILO says that these figures are nonsense and ignore all the people that have died from heart attacks and respiratory failure, even though these are common symptoms of heatstroke, brought on from doing heavy labour in extreme heat. It says 50 foreign labourers died and more than 500 others were seriously injured in Qatar in 2021 alone, and another 37,600 suffered mild to moderate injuries.

This is an interesting discussion - particularly as part of Global Systems at A-Level.

For further reading

Human rights abuses in Qatar ‘persist on significant scale’, says Amnesty report (the Guardian)

Qatar World Cup of Shame (Amnesty)

Qatar World Cup Comes With Human Rights Abuses And Controversy (Forbes)

There are two interesting episodes of the Sports Desk podcast that are worth a listen...

Qatar 2022 – a World Cup like no other

This was recorded a year ago and includes Amnesty International explaining how migrant workers in Qatar are being exploited – and the role David Beckham can play in shining a light on human rights, along with a Qatari football expert talking about how the World Cup can be a vehicle for lasting change both on and off the field.

Qatar 2022: Can football be a catalyst for change?

This episode was recorded a few months ago and assesses whether football can bring progress in a country blighted by human rights concerns, including interviews with a migrant worker talking about the tough conditions he worked in whilst building World Cup stadia, and Hassan Al-Thawadi - the man in charge of organising the tournament. Also England captain Harry Kane and Croatia midfielder Lovro Majer talk about whether footballers should use their high profile platforms to challenge human rights issues.

And this documentary screened on ITV last week is very interesting. Qatar: State of Fear?