Modern Day Slavery: Qatar and FIFA to blame?

Ritambhara Rai Bhattarai,

Correspondent (Asia: Middle East & Central)

 

DOHA – Qatar, the host country for World Cup 2022, has been one of the most popular destinations for manual workers in South Asia, particularly Nepalese labourers who make up the second highest population of migrant workers in Qatar. These workers have been known to live in extreme conditions, and the on-going World Cup preparation has worsened their situation.Seventy migrant workers have reportedly lost their lives since 2012 and many have been left injured while working on site in preparation of the football tournament.

This issue has received international attention and raised serious concerns of human rights. The workers are being abused as they are made to work for brutally long hours stretching up to 12 hours a day and in very harsh conditions. Some of them have been made to toil in the desert heat of 50 degrees Centigrade (122 F) without access to drinking water. Workers have also reported that they have not been paid for months and some are compelled to beg for food. There are up to 12 people living in a single room with no ventilation and 600 people sharing 2 kitchens. The workers take loans with up to 36% interest and have to pay a huge sum of up to 1100 USD to recruitment agents back home. But despite the huge debts the workers are still determined to return as their working conditions are intolerable and most of them are being forced to work for no pay. 30 Nepalese sought refuge at the Nepali embassy in Doha to escape brutal conditions of their employment. But those who are not lucky are left with no choice but to carry on as their passports, IDs and other official documents are confiscated by their employers. The employers make sure that the workers are unable to run away or escape, and treat them as slaves.

Maya Kumari Sharma, Nepalese Ambassador in Qatar describes the Emirates as an “Open Jail”. 44 Nepalese died in Qatar between 4th June and 8th August this year. More than half died of heart attack, heart failure or workplace accidents. Every day at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), there is a crowd of families receiving the dead bodies of the workers coming from the Middle East. The repatriation of the bodies takes as long as 3 weeks, and the authorities in Qatar have not taken any major step to address this problem. Ali bin Samikh Al-Marri, Chairman of National Human Rights

Committee in Qatar has turned a blind eye to the problem, claiming, “There is no slavery or forced labour in Qatar”. This is a fine example of the ruling class’s rule over the poor. Rich countries in the Middle East have been over exploiting cheap migrant workers from South Asia for years, yet this issue has never been taking seriously. Qatar is expected to recruit up to 1.5 million labourers to build stadiums, roads, ports and hotels for the World Cup tournament. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has warned that over 400 construction workers could die if the labourers continue working on infrastructure projects worth an estimated 137 billion Euro.

Expressing frustration over the issue, Umesh Upadhya, Secretary of the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Union said, “Everyone is talking about the effect of Qatar’s extreme heat on few hundred of footballers. But they are ignoring the hardships, blood and sweat of thousands of migrants workers who will be building the World Cup stadium in shifts that can last 8 times the length of a football match.”

Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons (daly3d abd)