Qatar 2022 WC chiefs vow to improve worker conditions
The fact the Qatari government allowed ITV News to join one of their health and safety inspectors as he went on a random check at a Doha building site amounts to progress in itself.
But then those who asked for the honour of staging the 2022 World Cup are finding that it brings with it the kind of global scrutiny they just aren’t used to. None of the Gulf states are.
In 2006, Qatar’s ministry of labour employed eight health and safety inspectors. Today there are 80 of them and there’s the promise of 300 by the end of the year.
They have the power to put contractors out of business. They have already jailed some of those who have violated labour laws here.
The problem is that too many contractors have been getting away with shortchanging and abusing the army of south Asian men who are building the dream.
There are 1.5 million guest workers in Qatar, most of them Indians and Nepalese. Figures released by their embassies in Doha suggest more than 1,000 labourers have died over the last two years.
Enforcement of existing labour laws is not stringent or widespread enough. But workers’ rights must also be improved and the Qataris have promised a new welfare charter in the summer.
The construction site we visited will be a five-star hotel and its safety record is good.
There are safety guidelines posted all over the place. Instructors speaking all the languages necessary hold tutorials to try to drum into workers the need for awareness and precautions.
World Cup organisers also took us to a new accommodation block. It’s clean and spacious and an example of how things should be.
The problem is that tens of thousands of workers live in squalid conditions elsewhere – in a sprawling network of one or two-storey dormitory buildings an hour from Doha.
To most visitors to Qatar this community is way out of sight and mind.
Left to our own devices, we managed to get into a Nepalese camp where the men sleep 18 to a room lit by one bulb and with no air conditioning.
The men complained that it was not at all what they had been told to expect by recruiters back home.
They said the food was rotten and made them sick. They all knew of colleagues who had died in accidents, through overwork or illness.
Guest workers make up almost 90% of the population of Qatar and there can be no World Cup without them.
The Qatari government and the World Cup organisers know they have an image problem.
They have promised changes and should be aware that without improvements in the welfare of guest workers their tournament may be doomed.
In a statement, Fifa has told ITV News:
Fifa has repeatedly urged the Qatari authorities to address any unacceptable conditions for migrant workers in the country.
We have initiated a series of meetings to facilitate discussions on this issue with football stakeholders as well as other entities including human rights and labour organisations as well as trade unions.
In addition, Fifa President Blatter recently confirmed that he will meet the highest political authorities in the region before the upcoming Fifa Congress in June in order for progress to be made on this matter.
We are fully committed to continuing the joint effort with all stakeholders and are doing everything in our power to ensure a swift solution. (Source: itv.com)
If any bachelor get sick he should report the Hospital which is behind the Doha petrol station. If it is reported there, Do you know how the Doctors are treating the patient? I can explain here, you go and see (remember if you are an animal, you are lucky because if you are sick the Veterinary Doctor comes near to you, touch and see the body conditions) but, in the bachelor hospital the Doctors are not coming close to the Patient and the Doctors stay 25 meter away from the patient.
This is the Human rights in Qatar Law for Labours
If any bachelor get sick he should report the Hospital which is behind the Doha petrol station. If it is reported there, Do you know how the Doctors are treating the patient? I can explain here, you go and see (remember if you are an animal, you are lucky because if you are sick the Veterinary Doctor comes near to you, touch and see the body conditions) but, in the bachelor hospital the Doctors are not coming close to the Patient and the Doctors stay 25 meter away from the patient.
This is the Human rights in Qatar Law for Labours
Lol strangr.
If the Kafala system is so fair and there are no problems, why would Qataris not be happy to also follow the same rules?
Al most all companies treating workers as slaves because of this Kafala system . Abolishing this will solve so many problems , Or better bring all Qataris under same kafala rule . Empathy is the best tool for teaching morality than absolute morality .
I am just worried why cant they give contracts to big companies who take care of their employees very well rather than splitting the contracts into sub and sub contractors. From my experience if the government allots 25 Qr rate for one hour for one employee.... the main contractor will take 5 riyals (they will not take care of anything )and will give that contract to a sub contractors, and this subcontract company will take 5 riyals again and they will give this contract to another sub company and this chain will go on like this, at last the poor laborers will get just 10% of the contract amount which will be around 5 to 6 Qr.
So from my opinion please stop this fraud chains and try to give contract amount directly to the laborers, they will be happy and the lifestyle will be good. Please try to understand that these are the real things that are going around in Qatar.
I am just worried, what the government can do about this... Do anybody know the real life style of the employers (labor supply company owners ) in Qatar??. They are just having a lavish life with the money that they get from this governments and from the contractors which should be given to the poor laborers. Its a big big chain. You cannot imagine their lifestyle back home. I know the real world. These small labor companies bribe managers to get the contracts and they utilizes all these money. I don't know how this government can stop these frauds and take care of laborers and make sure that employees are getting their salaries and benefits from these companies. Do you know one thing, these companies will credit salaries to the employees account and they itself will take the salary back and give a small amount to the laborers just like "throwing dust in the eyes of the government". And also they will cut the electricity and water in the labor camp from morning till evening so that nobody will stay in the camp even if they are sick or not feeling well. Almost all the labor employees are frightened to split out all these frauds, because of their employers and the fear that they might lose their job. This is the real truth. Its the experience I heard from a labor camp. Please try to find a solution to stop these frauds and help the laborers to get their benefits first