Qatar Can’t Hide From Human Rights Violation Anymore: HR Watch
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Roshan Amiri
- . April 28, 2022
- . Update: April 28, 2022 6:47 pm
Qatar– Qatar’s violations of human rights are rampant and no amount of money they spend on FIFA would hide this fact. A recent outburst by the newly elected head of soccer in Norway Lise Klaveness and one of the few women ever to lead a FIFA member federation, has exposed the fact that indeed Qatar has shown complete disregard for the human rights of all those who worked hard to make its innumerable venues to host the FIFA world cup.
This is not the first time that Qatar has been held responsible for its innumerable violations. Ms. Klaveness’ outburst does show the seriousness and sensitivity that the world is showing towards the act undertaken by Qatar. Her lashing out was a rare show of dissent and tension in the typically tightly scripted annual meeting of soccer’s 211 member countries, and targeted issues that have dogged Qatar and FIFA’s controversial choice of the Middle East country for more than a decade.
Human Rights Watch and the likes continue to raise their voices against the human rights atrocities and have sought sponsors to retract from supporting the forthcoming FIFA World Cup to be held in November 2022. Migrant workers face harrassement and torture from the time they get inducted for jobs in Qatar. They pay from their nose at their home country first. Then they are tied down in the Kafala system, only to be exploited by long working hours, less sleep, rest of leave in the weak, leading to their death. Human Rights Watch has been insisting that Qatar government investigate the deaths of healthy migrants who are sole breadwinners and remittance senders back home.
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Qatar relies almost entirely on about two million migrants, who make up ninety-five percent of the country’s workforce in sectors ranging from construction to services to domestic work. Qatar’s migrant workers come predominantly from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Kenya, and the Philippines.
Strangely, even security guards working in sweltering 50 degrees have been denied rest or even drinking water. Amnesty’s ‘They Think That We’re Machines’ report implicates World Cup organisers FIFA as ‘directly linked’ to these human rights abuses. The 74-page dossier, which interviewed 34 employees from eight private security companies, accuses world football’s governing body of not conducting ‘due diligence’ on three firms they contracted.
More than 6,500 workers have reportedly died since Qatar was awarded the World Cup. As many as two million migrant workers from across Asia and Africa came to Qatar after it was awarded the World Cup back in December 2010.
