i just want to draw this to everyone's attention again sadly: Qatar 2022: 'Forced labour' at World Cup stadium please log in to view this image Image copyrightGetty Images Image captionAmnesty said the Qatar government was "apathetic" about preventing abuses Rights group Amnesty International has accused Qatar of using forced labour at a flagship World Cup 2022 stadium. Amnesty says workers at Khalifa International Stadium are forced to live in squalid accommodation, pay huge recruitment fees and have had wages withheld and passports confiscated. It also accuses Fifa of "failing almost completely" to stop the tournament being "built on human rights abuses". Qatar said it was "concerned" by the allegations and would investigate. The government said the welfare of migrant workers was a "top priority" and insisted it was committed to systematic reform of Qatar's labour laws. Migrant workers describe 'pathetic' conditions Have 1,200 World Cup workers really died in Qatar? Arrested for reporting on Qatar's World Cup labourers Last year the country pledged to makes changes to its "kafala" sponsorship system, under which migrant workers cannot change jobs or leave the country without their employer's permission. But Amnesty warned the proposed reforms would make little difference and said some of the workers were enduring a "living nightmare". "All workers want are their rights: to be paid on time, leave the country if need be and be treated with dignity and respect," said general secretary Salil Shetty. please log in to view this image Image copyrightAP Amnesty interviewed 231 mostly South Asian migrants - 132 working at the stadium and 99 on green spaces in the surrounding Aspire sports complex. It said staff of one labour supply company used the threat of penalties to exact work from some migrants such as withholding pay, handing workers over to the police or stopping them from leaving Qatar. This amounted to forced labour under international law, Amnesty said. The Qatari government said its Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs would investigate the contractors named in the report. But Amnesty said every migrant it had interviewed had reported abuses of one kind or another, including being: required to pay fees of up to $4,300 to recruiters in their home country to get a job in Qatar deceived over the type of work and the pay on offer, which was sometimes half as much as they were promised threatened for complaining about their conditions One metal worker from India who worked on the Khalifa stadium refurbishment told Amnesty he was threatened by his employer when he complained about not being paid for several months. please log in to view this image Image copyrightAFP Image captionQatar's government says it is committed to labour reform "He just shouted abuse at me and said that if I complained again I'd never leave the country," the worker said. "Ever since I have been careful not to complain about my salary or anything else. Of course, if I could I would change jobs or leave Qatar." Another metal worker from Nepal said his life was "like a prison". Some of the Nepali workers told Amnesty they were not allowed to visit their families after the earthquake last April that killed thousands and left millions displaced. 'Fifa indifference' Mr Shetty also had harsh words for Fifa, accusing it of "indifference" to the abuse of migrant workers, which he said was a "stain on the conscience of world football". The Khalifa Stadium is part of the Aspire Zone sports complex, where facilities have already been used by some of the world's biggest football clubs, including Bayern Munich, Everton and Paris Saint-Germain, which trained there in the winter. Amnesty has called on big World Cup sponsors such as Adidas, Coca Cola and McDonald's to put pressure on Fifa to tackle the issue. "It is time for football's leaders to speak out or be tainted by association," Mr Shetty said. It wants Fifa to get Qatar to publish a comprehensive reform plan before construction on World Cup projects peaks in 2017. It also wants Fifa to carry out its own inspections of labour conditions in the Gulf state. The numbers working on World Cup sites are set to rise tenfold to around 36,000 in the next two years, Amnesty said. Fifa acknowledged it had a responsibility to ensure human rights were respected in the build-up to a tournament, but also said it was not responsible for "solving all the societal problems" in a World Cup host country.
Whilst agreeing (up to a point) that FIFA are not responsible for all of the social problems existing in host nations. If they were then there is more or less no country in the World which is completely free of all human rights problems. However, here we have a situation where those violations are in direct connection to the world cup itself - you could even say that people have died as a result of it. FIFA must react if it is to retain any credibility whatsoever - if it doesn't then the FA. would also be guilty of complicity if they sent a national team there. There are a hundred and one reasons why we should boycott this World Cup - corruption, human rights abuse, the question of whether homosexual fans would be safe there etc. etc. In my opinion the World Cup should not be given to countries which do not have a pre existing infrastructure for holding big football tournaments.
This is the manifestation of 'take the money and run' leadership. Thanks for bringing it to our attention, yorkshire.
I have to go beyond 'like' and say that is a very cogent and correct response. I agree with every word.
Seriously? What the flying f*** did they ever expect to happen when it was awarded in the first place? No point bleating about how terrible it all is, as if it's something new, when this has been going on for decades in that part of the world is, they KNEW. FIFA are complicit. They are a disgrace.
I must admit that until today I had not realized that 90% of the population are migrant workers. Just what sort of country can it be? Surely the inquiry into how the country was awarded the tournament will throw up some unpalatable results for some. How the new broom will deal with those results will be telling.
Not defending Qatar, but there are lots of horrible working conditions all over the world. Who is using an Apple product to access this site? Who is wearing clothes that are made in a sweatshop? Who is eating a sandwich with prawns in it? etc... The list can go on for a while...
The Middle East has been built on migrant labour, all of the PC' s we are using are built by cheap labour, unless you choose to wear very expensive designer clothes made in the UK (even they will be on minimum wage piece work), your clothes are made by cheap labour. I am not defending what is happening at all, but if you scream and shout about it on a football website and contribute to the problem at the same time, do you smack of being slightly hypocritical?
There's a difference between cheap labour and human rights abuse, which is the point being made here. Some companies are guilty of it, some aren't.
This is clearly human rights abuse.... beating withholding pay for months withholding passports clawing back extortionate amounts for setting up the jobs no flights home not paying agreed amounts keeping in sub-standard accommodation 100 hour+ working weeks no freedom of speech etc etc
Yorkie, I worked in the Middle East over 30 years ago and little has changed. I used to break bread with skilled Pakistani mechanics and they were virtually in the same position then, if the World Cup highlights and exposes the problems for the world to see, then that is something positive. But we live our lives on the backs of the poor, this thread could easily apply to Brazil and The Olympics, or Google making Android phones or cheap food imports or, or, or....
W_Y ... I have to stand up against abuse. I have no other choice.... and conditions have improved significantly in recent years... for example the real steps against child labour. I will always stand up for a fairer world. From my own work in the past 20 years in south asia.... i have seen the changes... and it is for us the well off to make the choices and require better conditions. I have seen the results of that. There is a long way to go i have no doubt.
Totally understand and respect this Yorkie. My point is that such abuse including slave labour wages has been happening for years, it is not new news. Similar abuse was reported in South Africa during the building of the facilities for the WC there and as I said similar practices have been in place in the Middle East for years. Doesn't help that this thread has been hijacked again by the fool to bang his drum...
