DOHA: Qatar has issued new guidelines aimed at protecting thousands of expatriate workers employed on construction projects for the finals of the 2022 World Cup.
The state has faced mounting criticism from human rights groups over the safety and working conditions of migrants working in its booming construction industry.
Its Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, responsible for organizing the tournament, issued standards it said would ensure workers are properly and promptly paid, that their housing is adequate and working conditions up to global standards.
Contractors will be required to set up bank accounts for their workers, creating a system under which the committee can verify that workers are paid in full and on time.
There will also be minimum requirements for worker accommodation covering everything from the number of beds per room to a minimum standard for cleanliness and hygiene.
The committee will require contractors and sub-contractors to ensure “world-class” health and safety for workers, equality in their treatment and protect their dignity.
Amnesty International said in November that workers were being treated like “animals,” and urged football’s world governing body FIFA to press Qatar to improve conditions for foreign laborers, most of whom come from South Asia.
It highlighted a series of abuses including “non-payment of wages harsh and dangerous working conditions and shocking standards of accommodation.”
Following an inspection tour a month earlier, international trade unionists described the working conditions for migrants as “not acceptable.”
Amnesty researcher James Lynch said the new guidelines represent “a positive — if partial — effort to prevent some of the worst abuses from taking place.”
“While this may be a good starting point, the charter will only address the concerns of... those involved in the construction of stadiums and training grounds.
“The standards will not apply to thousands of other migrant workers... including those who will build the wider infrastructure to support the hosting of the World Cup, including roads, hotels and railways.”
The Supreme Committee said it has engaged the International Labour Organization to verify that the procedures were being followed.
FIFA said the committee’s report will be used to prepare for a hearing Thursday at the European Parliament on the conditions of migrant workers.
After that, another detailed report will be delivered to the FIFA Executive Committee in March.
Qatar issues expat worker welfare charter
Qatar issues expat worker welfare charter
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First responders enter devastated Aleppo neighborhood after days of deadly fighting
- The US-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Daesh group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria’s national army
ALEPPO, Syria: First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.
The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.
The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.
The US-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Daesh group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria’s national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”
The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.
Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid Al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.
The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.
On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.
Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.
“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”
Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.
Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.
“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.
