LONDON: Human Rights Watch has warned that FIFA and the Qatari government must ensure that migrant workers who contributed to the Gulf country’s construction preparations for the 2022 World Cup receive full compensation and benefits for their work.
The organization added that strikes and protests planned in Qatar should not be disrupted by authorities.
More than two dozen migrant workers told HRW that they took part in strikes over wage theft and contract violations.
As a result, workers who took part in a strike on Aug. 14 were detained and subsequently deported under a “voluntary return” policy overseen by authorities, who warned that the migrants had “violated” the country’s public security laws.
One worker involved in the strike told HRW that his former employer subsequently agreed to pay his salary and benefits but only after he was “handcuffed like a criminal” by police in order to collect his passport.
He said: “After nine years of work, I had to leave the country like a criminal.”
However, in a written statement, authorities said that legal action would be taken against the company at the center of the wage theft allegations.
Another migrant worker told HRW: “There are two things we need: Regular work, and regular pay for work completed. Unfortunately, neither is guaranteed in Qatar, especially if you land a bad employer.”
Rights groups have reported that the Qatari government deported at least 60 migrant workers for protesting in August.
Some migrant workers warned that when organizing strikes, they feared reprisals from employers as well as the police.
One worker told HRW: “Of course we fear reprisal. But our hope is that when there are thousands of us raising our voices, we won’t get into trouble individually. How can they jail thousands of us?”
Another added: “If we don’t participate, our situation may not improve. If we participate, we may get into trouble in a foreign land. Who will help us then?
“We try to be cautious not to garner attention when we protest. We refrain from taking pictures or allowing others to take our pictures as both could get us into trouble.”
However, the threat of deportation and unrecoverable loss of wages has deterred other migrant workers from taking part in protests and strikes. One worker interviewed by HRW said that hundreds of colleagues had planned a strike against wage theft but canceled the plan at the last minute.
“We agreed on a date to strike … to down our tools … but the plan fell apart as we feared reprisal. I cannot afford to lose the job even if the salary is frequently delayed. It is difficult for me to sleep in my stuffy, leaking room, but at least my children back home are not sleeping hungry,” he said.
Qatar’s Worker’s Support and Insurance Fund, which was made operational in 2020, aims to mediate between employers and workers in cases of wage disputes. Based on Ministry of Labor data from July 2022, the fund has compensated 36,373 workers from 17 countries a total of 597,591,986 Qatari riyals ($164 million).
Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said: “Less than two months ahead of the World Cup, workers are struggling to receive their wages and benefits on time and expressing their frustrations on the streets despite fear of retaliation.
“The least FIFA and Qatari authorities can do is ensure workers receive their owed wages and benefits as a matter of priority and establish a remedy fund that builds on existing compensation mechanisms like the Workers’ Support and Insurance Fund to address past and ongoing widespread wage abuse.
“Migrant worker strikes and protests in Qatar are an act of desperation for workers demanding action on wage theft.”
