On the 24th of August, the Human Rights Watch released a report describing the predicament of migrant workers in Qatar. Having conducted interviews with over 93 migrant workers, working for over 60 companies or independent employers with all legal documents, the Human Rights Watch stated that they found multiple cases of wage abuses against migrant workers in various fields including security staff to cleaners and construction workers. This not only shows how employers in Qatar have time and again violated their workers’ rights to wages but also displays the failure of the country to meet their 2017 commitment to the International Labour Organization(ILO) to protect their migrant workers.
In June earlier this year, the Qatar government had expressed how they had set-up a 75 billion riyal stimulus package to help all low scale companies to retain their jobs, and to relax the burden off employers in addressing "financial difficulty to pay salaries and rent". Aljazeera reported the Government Communication Office(GCO) stated, "Qatar has made substantial progress on labor reforms and it continues to work with NGOs, including the International Labour Organization, to ensure that these reforms are far-reaching and effective." However, Hiba Zayadin, HRW Gulf researcher, in response expressed, "The [GCO's] statement is not consistent with the findings that we have, but also with the almost periodic media reports we see of hundreds of migrant workers stranded after their employer stops paying them for months on end”. With multiple surveys conducted by various human rights agencies, it becomes very evident how Qatar has not been valuing their international obligations.
Wage abuses have been a long-standing problem in multiple Gulf countries. In an attempt to establish reasons behind such gruesome mistreatment, we firstly look at the ‘Kafala System’ in Qatar. Under this system, migrant workers must obtain a no-objection certificate(NOC) from their employers before changing jobs. Now, this puts an unfair share of power in the hands of the employers which forces an individual to not only reside in the country but also make them susceptible to exploitation and abuse. In 2017, the government promised to do away with this system but as it stands it still threatens the migrant workers. Wage abuses are also driven by various deceptive job recruitment practices, wherein they need to pay a hefty sum of money to not only Qatar but even their home countries, which put them under a lot of debt. Now, to emerge out of this situation the workers are forced to indulge in jobs that do not end up paying the amount as promised. Certain business practices like “pay when paid” clause further deteriorates the plight of the migrant workers.
Wage abuses have also been further exacerbated by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Using the pretext of the pandemic, the employers withhold wages and refuse to pay outstanding amounts to workers who are then detained and forcibly repatriated.
Having considered all factors and parameters leading to the unfair treatment of migrant workers, is Qatar still an ideal location to host one of the world’s greatest football championships, FIFA? A country who treats their migrants this way, do they deserve this legacy?
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