Why don't they quit? They aren't even allowed to go home for the funerals of their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and children killed in the Nepalese earthquake. If that isn't dehumanizing, then what is?
Nepalese workers building stadiums for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar have been denied leave to attend funerals or visit relatives following the earthquakes in the Himalayan country that have killed more than 8,000 people, its government has revealed.
The government in Kathmandu has also for the first time publicly criticised Fifa, world football’s governing body, and its commercial partners. It insists that they must put more pressure on Qatar to improve conditions for the 1.5 million migrants employed in the Gulf state as part of the World Cup construction boom.
About 400,000 of the workers on the project are from Nepal, with the rest mainly from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Tek Bahadur Gurung, Nepal’s labour minister, said: “After the earthquake of 25 April, we requested all companies in Qatar to give their Nepalese workers special leave and pay for their air fare home. While workers in some sectors of the economy have been given this, those on World Cup construction sites are not being allowed to leave because of the pressure to complete projects on time.
“They have lost relatives and their homes and are enduring very difficult conditions in Qatar. This is adding to their suffering.”
Gurung said Nepal’s government had been attempting, without success, to contact Fifa and its sponsors to ask them to be more robust with Qatar. “Nothing will change for migrant workers until Fifa and its rich sponsors insist on it. These are the people who are bringing the World Cup to Qatar. But we are a small, poor country and these powerful organisations are not interested in listening to us.”
South Asian countries have been reluctant to speak out about the controversy over migrant workers for fear of alienating Qatar.
Gurung said: “There are far more than 500 Nepalese working on different World Cup construction sites, I can assure you. We have even offered to pay the air fare home for all our people building stadiums and involved in other projects, where companies are not willing, but not even this has made a difference. Our embassy in Doha has been inundated with requests for help from World Cup workers who are not allowed to leave.”
The minister said he was due to visit Qatar next month to hold discussions with his counterpart and meet Nepalese workers so he could see for himself the conditions they faced.
Qatar’s labour minister, Abdullah bin Saleh al-Khulaifi, visited Kathmandu last month and promised to introduce a series of changes. He also revealed that his nation would need even more Nepalese workers as it strives to complete World Cup stadiums and infrastructure projects in time for 2022.
Why don't they quit? They aren't even allowed to go home for the funerals of their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and children killed in the Nepalese earthquake. If that isn't dehumanizing, then what is?
Nepalese workers building stadiums for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar have been denied leave to attend funerals or visit relatives following the earthquakes in the Himalayan country that have killed more than 8,000 people, its government has revealed.
The government in Kathmandu has also for the first time publicly criticised Fifa, world football’s governing body, and its commercial partners. It insists that they must put more pressure on Qatar to improve conditions for the 1.5 million migrants employed in the Gulf state as part of the World Cup construction boom.
About 400,000 of the workers on the project are from Nepal, with the rest mainly from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Tek Bahadur Gurung, Nepal’s labour minister, said: “After the earthquake of 25 April, we requested all companies in Qatar to give their Nepalese workers special leave and pay for their air fare home. While workers in some sectors of the economy have been given this, those on World Cup construction sites are not being allowed to leave because of the pressure to complete projects on time.
“They have lost relatives and their homes and are enduring very difficult conditions in Qatar. This is adding to their suffering.”
Gurung said Nepal’s government had been attempting, without success, to contact Fifa and its sponsors to ask them to be more robust with Qatar. “Nothing will change for migrant workers until Fifa and its rich sponsors insist on it. These are the people who are bringing the World Cup to Qatar. But we are a small, poor country and these powerful organisations are not interested in listening to us.”
South Asian countries have been reluctant to speak out about the controversy over migrant workers for fear of alienating Qatar.
Gurung said: “There are far more than 500 Nepalese working on different World Cup construction sites, I can assure you. We have even offered to pay the air fare home for all our people building stadiums and involved in other projects, where companies are not willing, but not even this has made a difference. Our embassy in Doha has been inundated with requests for help from World Cup workers who are not allowed to leave.”
The minister said he was due to visit Qatar next month to hold discussions with his counterpart and meet Nepalese workers so he could see for himself the conditions they faced.
Qatar’s labour minister, Abdullah bin Saleh al-Khulaifi, visited Kathmandu last month and promised to introduce a series of changes. He also revealed that his nation would need even more Nepalese workers as it strives to complete World Cup stadiums and infrastructure projects in time for 2022.