BRUSSELS: Pakistan will insist on proper labor rights for an army of its citizens working on Qatar’s football World Cup infrastructure, the country’s foreign minister said Monday, after repeated reports of abuses.
The gas-rich Gulf state has embarked on a huge construction program to get ready for the 2022 tournament, drawing intense scrutiny from rights and labor campaigners.
Earlier this year Amnesty International warned that despite “nascent reforms,” Qatar was running out of time to stamp out widespread and serious exploitation of tens of thousands of migrant laborers, many of them from South Asia.
There have been reports of wages going unpaid, passports being held by unscrupulous bosses and some laborers working up to 148 days in a row.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi welcomed Qatar’s plans to offer his countrymen up to 100,000 work permits but insisted World Cup workers’ rights must be respected.
“Certainly we will ask our embassy and we will ask the recruiting agencies to give better terms,” he told AFP during a visit to Brussels.
“Where we feel Pakistani labor is contributing, we feel they should be looked after as well.”
Qatar insists it is committed to labor reform.
Since it was chosen as World Cup host it has introduced a monthly minimum wage of 750 riyals ($206) and partially scrapped the exit visa system which required workers to obtain their employers’ permission before leaving the country.
Qureshi welcomed the changes but said Pakistan would push for more.
“I think other facilities like health cover and stuff like that can be negotiated and we will talk with them about that,” he said.
Qureshi’s trip to Brussels comes as cash-strapped Pakistan seeks foreign investment, with the government forced to announce an austerity budget after securing a $6 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
After talks with senior EU officials on Tuesday, the minister will sign a “strategic engagement plan” with the bloc’s diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini.
Pakistan insists on Qatar World Cup workers’ rights
Pakistan insists on Qatar World Cup workers’ rights
- Qatari plans to offer Pakistan up to 100,000 work permits
- Amnesty International has warned Qatar against exploitation of tens of thousands of migrant laborers
Pakistan military says 13 militants killed in counterterror operations across northwest
- Military says counterterror operations launched in Bajaur, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber and South Waziristan districts
- The counterterror operations take place as Afghanistan and Pakistan remain locked in conflict since late last month
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces this week killed 13 militants in five separate counterterror operations in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the military’s media wing said on Sunday, vowing to eliminate militancy from the country.
The counterterror operations were conducted on Mar. 6-7, with Pakistani troops killing five militants in the northwestern Bajaur district in the first operation. In two other encounters in Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan district, security forces killed three militants belonging to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
Meanwhile, five other militants were killed in two separate counterterror operations in Khyber and South Waziristan districts in which five more militants were slain.
“Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from Indian-sponsored killed khwarij, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area,” ISPR said in a statement.
Pakistan’s military frequently uses the term “Fitna al Khwarij” to describe TTP militants. The militant outfit has carried out some of the deadliest attacks against Pakistani civilians and security forces since 2007 in a bid to impose their strict brand of Islamic law across the country.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of sheltering the TTP and facilitating their attacks against Pakistan, a charge Kabul has denied. Pakistan also accuses India of supporting these militant groups, which New Delhi has repeatedly rejected.
The counterterror operations take place as Pakistan remains locked in conflict with Afghanistan since late February.
The worst fighting between the two sides began late last month when Afghan forces launched a surprise attack on Pakistani military installations along their shared border. Afghanistan said the assault was in retaliation for Pakistan’s earlier airstrikes in February on what Islamabad described as militant camps inside Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Saturday that Islamabad has killed 527 Afghan Taliban fighters and injured more than 755 since clashes began.
Afghanistan has also claimed attacking multiple Pakistani military bases and killing several Pakistani soldiers. Arab News has not independently verified the claims by both sides.
Pakistan has ruled out talks with Afghanistan and said it will continue its military operations in the country till it withdraws support for militant groups that Islamabad says operate from Afghanistan.
