In the lead-up to the World Cup, the Socceroos were among those pushing Qatar to improve its treatment of migrant workers. So has the nation heeded the calls and what will the World Cup’s legacy be?
Anish, a Nepali migrant worker who helped build Qatar’s Lusail stadium. Credit: Supplied
HIGHLIGHTS
- Qatar has been accused of violating the human rights of migrant workers.
- FIFA has defended Qatar and called Western critics hypocritical.
- Rights groups are calling for more thorough investigations into migrant worker deaths.
Anish left his poverty-stricken family in Nepal to help build Qatar’s Lusail Stadium, with the hope of providing for his loved ones.
He was promised timely wages, decent accommodation, free food, and was told the company we would work for was “nice”.
But the reality Anish experienced was the opposite.
What is the human cost of the World Cup in Qatar?
“You have to do something when you cannot provide enough food to eat, we have to go overseas,” he said.
“I could not tell my parents the reality of what was really going on. They’d worry about their son. And if I told them the full story, they would get sad.
“It’s okay if I am unhappy, but I can’t see my family sad.”
Anish is owed thousands of dollars in unpaid wages and illegal fees, according to Equidem, a human rights and labour rights charity.
He says “food was supposed to be free” but was deducted from his wages – a form of
modern slavery
called debt bondage.
The weather was so hot while Anish and other migrant workers built the state-of-the-art stadiums, he said “even if we drank 10 bottles of water, we did not feel the need to urinate”.
He said if workers complained, they had their wages cut.
Equidem said HBK Contracting Company, Anish’s former employer, did not respond to their request for comment.
Following international condemnation of Qatar for its treatment of migrant workers, and FIFA for awarding the prestigious tournament to the nation, leaders from both Qatar and FIFA claimed the country was striving to address its human rights record.
In a press conference on the eve of the World Cup in November, FIFA President Gianni Infantino denounced Western critics for what he claimed was hypocrisy and announced Qatar would open a workers’ welfare unit.
He also said FIFA would provide a “legacy fund” following the tournament.
What are the issues around migrant workers in Qatar?
The true death toll of migrant workers building World Cup infrastructure in Qatar is disputed and difficult to verify due to limited information provided by the Qatar government.
However, a
by Tord Kjellstrom, a New Zealand-based professor in climate change and global health, substantiates claims that migrant worker deaths were caused by extreme heat, and were preventable.
The study, conducted between 2009 and 2017, found a strong correlation between average monthly afternoon heat levels and cardiovascular disease mortality among the workers.
Globally, 15 per cent of deaths of people aged 25-35 were due to cardiovascular disease causes, but among Nepali migrants in Qatar the figures were 22 per cent in the cool season and 58 per cent during the hot season.
We concluded that the reason for this was that workers carried out heavy labour in the hot environment when they need to rest to protect their health,” Professor Kjellstrom said.
Other areas of reported exploitation include unpaid wages, large unexpected recruitment fees incurred by workers, and workers not having the right to leave their job.
The Socceroos were among those raising awareness of migrant worker conditions in Qatar.
“These migrant workers who have suffered are not just numbers. Like the migrants that have shaped our country and our football, they possessed the same courage and determination to build a better life,” players from Australia’s national team said in a video released prior to the tournament.
Socceroos criticise Qatar’s human rights record
27 Oct 2022, 5:41 am
Socceroos criticise Qatar’s human rights record
How have Qatar and FIFA responded?
Mr Infantino said the West should look at its own human rights records before criticising Qatar.
“I think for what we Europeans have been doing around the world for the last 3,000 years, we should be apologising for the next 3,000 years, before starting to give moral lessons,” he said.
“Today I feel Qatari. I feel Arab. I feel African. I feel gay. I feel disabled. I feel a migrant worker.”
