Qatar’s construction labourers face abuse: Amnesty International
Report urges government to act and end these practices
- By Jumana Al Tamimi, Associate Editor
- Published: 01:01 November 18, 2013
- Image Credit: AFP
- Migrant labourers at a construction site in Doha. The world’s spotlight will continue to shine on Qatar’s commitment to human rights in the run-up to the 2022 World Cup. Picture used for illustrative purposes.
Dubai: Migrant construction workers are facing widespread abuse at the
hands of their employers in Qatar’s construction sector, a report by
Amnesty International concluded recently.
The human rights watchdog has urged the government to end these practices by taking a series of actions.
The report titled “The Dark Side of Migration: Spotlight on Qatar’s
construction sector ahead of the World Cup,” released during a press
conference in Doha last Sunday in the presence of senior officials from
the watchdog, reveals widespread and routine abuse of migrant workers —
in some cases amounting to “forced labour”.
“It is simply inexcusable in one of the richest countries in the world,
that so many migrant workers are being ruthlessly exploited, deprived
of their pay and left struggling to survive,” Salil Shetty,
Secretary-General of Amnesty International, said in a press statement, a
copy of which was received by Gulf News.
The 169-page report was based on interviews with workers, employers and
government officials. The documented abuses include “non-payment of
wages, harsh and dangerous working conditions, and shocking standards of
accommodation”.
Among the interviewed workers were Nepalese employed by a company that
delivers “critical” supplies to a project associated with the planned
Fifa headquarters for the 2022 World Cup spoke of labour abuses.
They said they were “treated like cattle”. Employees were working up to
12 hours a day and seven days a week, including during Qatar’s very hot
summer months.
Amnesty also interviewed “dozens of construction workers who were
prevented from leaving the country for many months — leaving them
trapped in Qatar with no way out”.
“Construction companies and the Qatari authorities alike are failing
migrant workers. Employers have displayed an appalling disregard for the
basic human rights of migrant workers. Many are taking advantage of a
permissive environment and lax enforcement of labour protections to
exploit construction workers,” said Shetty.
As Fifa World Cup 2022 stadia are being constructed, “the world’s
spotlight will continue to shine on Qatar in the run-up to the 2022
World Cup offering the government a unique chance to demonstrate on a
global stage that they are serious about their commitment to human
rights and can act as a role model to the rest of the region,” added the
head of Amnesty.
The workers, many of whom come from South or Southeast Asia, are
recruited at a “remarkable rate” to support the construction boom, and
Qatar’s population is increasing at 20 people an hour, the official
said. But many migrants “arrive in Qatar full of hopes, only to have
these crushed soon after they arrive. There’s no time to delay — the
government must act now to end this abuse”.
The watchdog urges the government to enforce labour protections — which
many employers flout routinely. It also called for an overhaul of the
‘sponsorship’ system, which leaves migrant workers unable to leave the
country or change jobs without their employers’ permission.
“Please tell me - is there any way to get out of here? ... We are going
totally mad,” one Nepalese construction worker, unpaid for seven months
and prevented from leaving Qatar for three months, told Amnesty
officials.
Amnesty contacted several major companies with regard to cases it had
documented. It said “many expressed serious concerns about Amnesty
International’s findings and some said that they had carried out
investigations. One company said it had upgraded its inspection regime
as a result”.
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