By Andrew Warshaw
September 5 – Human rights organisations have renewed their offensive against 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar, this time after the apparent disappearance in the Gulf state of two British researchers probing workers’ rights. Krishna Upadhyaya and photographer Ghimire Gundev reportedly arrived in Qatar on August 27 to research a forthcoming report on the conditions of Nepalese migrant workers but there are fears they may have since been detained according to the body that employs them, the Norway-based Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD).
Although they are taking concrete measure to improve workers’ rights, not least in reforming the antiquated kafala system that binds employees to employer “sponsors” , Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers has drawn widespread global criticism, including from FIFA.
Evgenia Kondrakhina, chief executive of GNRD, said that despite repeated attempts to contact the Qatari authorities, “we have not received any response from any Qatari, officially or unofficially.”
“GNRD holds the Qatari authorities responsible for their safety,” said Kondrakhina. “In the event that its employees are subjected to any kind of physical or psychological harm, GNRD is prepared to take all necessary legal action.”
Upadhyaya and Gundev are both British nationals of Nepalese descent and Upadhyaya worked for Anti-Slavery International for almost 12 years.
Aidan McQuade, director of Anti-Slavery International, was quoted by The Guardian newspaper as saying: “He’s animated by a profound commitment to social justice, which has most explicitly been expressed through his work in the struggle for democracy in Nepal and against the forced labour and enslavement of vulnerable workers across the world.”
Both Amnesty International and the International Trade Union Confederation urged Qatar to reveal the whereabouts of both men and ensure their safety. The pair had earlier expressed fears to colleagues that they were being followed. Upadhyaya is reported to have checked in for his flight out of Qatar but never boarded the aircraft.
“The enforced disappearance of Krishna Upadhyaya and Ghimire Gundev is extremely worrying and the pattern of events reported by the men before they went missing indicates that they may have been detained in relation to their human rights work,” said Said Boumedouha, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.
“The Qatari authorities must urgently reveal the fate and whereabouts of these two men and dispel the growing fears that they are at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. If the Qatari authorities have detained these men, they must reveal why, where and if any charges are being brought against them. Both must also have access to lawyers of their choice and be protected from torture and other ill-treatment while in custody.
“Unless these men are to be charged with an internationally recognisable criminal offence, remanded by a civilian court in a public hearing and brought to trial promptly and fairly, both must be immediately and unconditionally released.”
In a statement, the ITUC has expressed serious concern at the idea the two men had been followed by Qatari security agents as they documented alleged violations of workers’ rights.
Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary said: “Qatar seems to think that creating a climate of fear and intimidation will somehow turn the eyes of the world away from its modern slavery economy. Hundreds of migrant workers, many of them women, are languishing in Doha’s detention centres simply for running away from abusive and violent employers. Foreign journalists have been detained for trying to report the truth, and state repression is actually increasing in a country that already showed no respect for basic human rights and legal standards.”
The controversy comes just the Qatar World Cup is about to be placed firmly back on FIFA’s agenda. On Monday the Task Force set up by FIFA to come up with a firm date for staging 2022 if it is switched from summer to winter holds its first meeting while organising committee officials are set to make their first public appearance in the UK for several months as part of next week’s Soccerex convention in Manchester.
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