Human Rights Watch: Qatar World Cup 2022 comes after years of gross human rights violations
Days before the World Cup.. Criticism of the horrific violations against foreign workers in Qatar
As the World Cup approaches, criticism of Qatar and the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) by human rights organizations over what they call “horrendous violations” against foreign workers in World Cup infrastructure projects is growing.
Double standards in Qatar
International and human rights reports have revealed that the Qatari system is double standard. It speaks for human rights and at the same time is the most violated system. It stressed that Qatar promotes itself to the world as a law-abiding country that achieves gender equality and respects the rights of foreign workers but there was a black record to the contrary.
For more than seven years, Qatar has been undergoing international investigations into the labor rights of the 2022 World Cup facilities, amid human rights calls to strip Doha of hosting the global event, due to ongoing violations against foreign workers.
Years of grave violations
Days before the World Cup, Human Rights Watch reported that the FIFA 2022 World Cup follows years of serious violations of migrant workers’ and human rights in Qatar, as a reporter’s guide was published to support journalists covering the tournament, which will be held from November 20 to December 18, 2022.
The rights group expressed concerns related to Qatar’s preparations for the World Cup and hosting the tournament, as the Correspondents’ Guide reveals the broader problems related to the protection of human rights in the country. It also describes FIFA’s human rights policies and how the world soccer governing body can more effectively address serious violations in Qatar and mitigate their harm.
“Minky Worden, Director of Global Initiatives at Human Rights Watch, said that the World Cup draws enormous attention from international media and fans, but that the dark side of the tournament casts a shadow over football.” She said the legacy of the 2022 World Cup depends on whether Qatar and FIFA address the death of migrant workers who built the tournament, implement recent labor reforms and protect the rights of everyone in Qatar, not just fans and players.
FIFA inaction
The rights group said that despite repeated warnings from workers themselves and civil society organizations, FIFA failed to impose strong protection conditions and became a possible factor for widespread abuse suffered by workers, including illegal recruitment fees, wage theft, injuries and deaths.
FIFA was responsible for identifying and addressing these violations in accordance with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, adopted by FIFA in its 2016 Statute, and its 2017 Human Rights Policy. FIFA also has sufficient resources to make up for it, as the 2022 World Cup is expected to generate more than $6 billion in revenue.
Extremely harsh working conditions
A report by Amnesty International last year exposed the ill-treatment of foreign domestic workers in Qatar, and confirmed that they suffer from particularly harsh working conditions, some of whom have been beaten, sexually harassed and raped.
The report was based on interviews with 105 women, with around 85% saying they rarely have rest days or never, and that their employers keep their passports.
Thousands of workers die in Qatar
Britain’s Guardian newspaper previously reported that more than 6,500 foreign workers in Qatar died between 2011 and 2020. Labor rights groups in the Gulf say many of these workers died while working on infrastructure projects to host the 2022 World Cup.
Qatar is hosting the World Cup with the blood of innocent and vulnerable people who left their countries and children for a living, to find themselves deprived of the most basic rights and living in harsh and compelling conditions without rest, salaries or even habitable places.
