By Andrew Warshaw
June 14 – Qatar 2022 have promised to give labour rights in the Gulf state key consideration after a lengthy report suggested they were not up to international standards.
Earlier this week, the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), a leading humanitarian organisation, published a 146-page report highlighting conditions imposed on migrant workers.
Migrant workers comprise 94 per cent of Qatar’s workforce and the report – Building a better World Cup: Protecting migrant workers – examined Qatar’s recruitment and employment system.
It said it hoped World Cup stadium construction would not take place against the backdrop of exploited labour, particularly among those from South Asia.
“The Government needs to ensure that the cutting-edge, high-tech stadiums it’s planning to build for World Cup fans are not built on the backs of abused and exploited
workers,” HRW’s Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson (pictured below, left) said.
Responding to the report, the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee said it saw the FIFA World Cup “as a catalyst for positive change in Qatar with regard to a variety of issues, including migrant workers’ rights”.
A statement added: “The points and recommendations raised in Human Rights Watch’s report correspond with our strategic vision and are received with the utmost seriousness and consideration.
“Since we were awarded the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup we have considered the issue of labour rights in Qatar as one of our key priorities, ensuring from the outset that the issue is an integral part of our legacy framework.
“Ensuring international standards for workers’ rights and conditions has and will continue to be at the forefront of our committee’s strategic planning and implementation.
“We are fully committed to ensuring that preventative measures are in place to safeguard workers ahead of all construction projects directly relating to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
“We welcome an open dialogue with Human Rights Watch and confirm our offer of a meeting.
“We also extend this offer to Human Rights Watch for continuous dialogue in the future in order to discuss and chart progress on those issues regarding labour in relation to World Cup related construction projects.
“We will continue to work closely with government departments – the Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Interior and the Human Rights Bureau at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – and other relevant stakeholders, including independent organisations such as Human Rights Watch, to ensure all workers in Qatar are treated with dignity and respect and are provided with a safe and secure working environment.”
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