By Andrew Warshaw
November 13 – Qatar is failing to make fast enough progress in dealing with the ill-treatment of migrant workers, Amnesty International has warned in a fresh report. Six months after the 2022 World Cup hosts laid down plans for major reforms, Amnesty says few concrete steps have been taken.
In its 12-page report, the London-based human rights group criticised Qatar for failing to substantially tackle the notorious ‘kafala’ employee sponsorship system that ties expatriate workers to a single employer and requires workers obtain exit permits from their employers to leave the country.
Amnesty warns that a failure to put serious changes in place in the coming months “will call into question whether the Qatari authorities are serious about reform.”
But with FIFA keeping a close eye on developments, Qatari officials are increasingly acknowledging that improvements need to be made.
Qatar’s labour and social affairs minister, Abdullah Saleh Mubarak al-Khulaifi, told local Qatari media last week that new labour legislation should be ready by the end of the year. And Qatar’s sports minister, Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser al-Ali, separately told The Associated Press that the country plans to implement reforms in the “next few months.”
“We understand this problem. For us, it’s a human question,” al-Ali said. Qataris aren’t “vicious people who are like vampires. … We have emotions, we feel bad.”
The draft legislation was introduced after Qatar hired international law firm DLA Piper to examine its labour issues. Reforms proposed would automatically grant workers exit permission 72 hours before their scheduled departure, though there would still be limits on how soon they could leave.
But Amnesty said Qatar was lagging behind in any meaningful way.
Sherif Elsayed-Ali, Head of Refugee and Migrants’ Rights, said: “Time is running out fast. It has been four years since Qatar won the bid to host the World Cup, putting itself in the global spotlight, so far its response to migrant labour abuses has not been much more than promises of action and draft laws.”
“Urgent action is needed to ensure we do not end up with a World Cup tournament that is built on forced labour and exploitation.”
Contact the writer of this story at andrew.warshaw@insideworldfootball/com