November 14 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The most controversial soccer World Cup in recent decades will begin this weekend, the one in Qatar was questioned even before the country was chosen by FIFA to host an event that is being asked to boycott due to the violation of fundamental rights and the complaints about the numerous deaths of workers during the construction of the stadiums.
Several rights organizations have described the next soccer event as “the World Cup of shame”, after verifying violations and labor abuses during the construction of the lavish stadiums that will host the matches of the 32 teams that will play the tournament.
The sponsorship system — or kafala — is the main problem faced by migrant workers, mainly in the construction or domestic service sectors, in Arab countries such as Qatar. Considered a rule of almost slavery, it has served these years to delve into the abuses of employers against their employees, who do not have any legal protection to defend themselves.
Under this system, unskilled workers cannot enter the country or obtain a visa unless they have such sponsorship. At the mercy of their employers, they withhold their passports and decide on their legal status, thus becoming trapped in a cycle of abuse, denounced by rights organizations.
Like other Persian Gulf monarchies, Qatar has in recent decades exploited migrant workers, especially from India, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The country is under worldwide scrutiny after it was revealed that thousands of people had died during the construction of soccer stadiums in extremely long working hours and under high temperatures.
The figures oscillate between the most conservative that speak of thirty deaths, which are those offered by the executive committee in charge of organizing the World Cup, fifty according to a 2021 report from the International Labor Organization (ILO), or the 6,500 deaths reported by some media, such as the British newspaper ‘The Guardian’.
“The authorities continue to fail to adequately investigate the deaths of migrant workers, thousands of whom have died suddenly and unexpectedly in Qatar in the last decade,” coinciding with the start of construction on the stadiums, denounces the NGO Amnesty International.
In addition, this organization points out, Qatar “prevented any assessment of whether the deaths were work-related” and “denied the families of workers the opportunity to receive compensation.”
Wage theft is one of the most common abuses faced by migrant workers, who are also not allowed to organize to demand their most fundamental labor rights. In some cases, employers even use salaries to pay the costs of repatriating bodies in the event of death.
“We work from January to January, from Sunday to Sunday. No day off. If you are absent, your salary will be deducted for two or more days,” Godfrey, a worker who arrived from Uganda, told Amnesty International.
The situation is even more complicated for domestic service workers, isolated and confined to their homes, since they not only live with their employers, but also the possible abuses that are committed are hidden from the rest of society.
Women are precisely one of the groups most aggrieved by the Qatari political regime. In law and in practice they continue to suffer discrimination, subjugated by the guardianship system that forces them to remain tied to a male guardian, usually a relative or her husband.
Women continue to need the permission of a male figure to make fundamental decisions in their lives, such as getting married, studying abroad, or having access to certain reproductive treatments. In case they manage to get divorced, the State withdraws the authority of their children.
Qatar is one of 70 countries that criminalizes same-sex relationships. According to its Criminal Code, “sodomy” or “debauchery” is punishable by up to seven years in prison and the authorities have not hidden when trying to camouflage their opinion on homosexuality.
It is “a mental deviation,” said Khalid Salman, ambassador of the 2022 World Cup, in an interview for the German channel ZDF, in which he also emphasized that in his country homosexuality is prohibited by law. “If they agree to come here they will have to accept our rules,” he remarked.
With regard to the rest of fundamental rights, freedom of expression has also been restricted in the last decade, since the country was designated as host for the FIFA World Cup, the highest soccer body whose response to all These denunciations have been rather tepid and ambiguous.
FIFA has preferred to look the other way as criticism increases each time the initial whistle of the opening match this Sunday is closer. Given the numerous reports on Human Rights violations, it has limited itself to pointing out that they are “investigating” all these complaints and has highlighted the supposed “great evolution” of Qatar in recent years.
“FIFA cannot use the spectacle of the World Cup to evade its responsibilities. It has a clear duty towards the hundreds of thousands of workers who suffered while building the stadiums,” Amnesty stressed, proposing the creation of a compensation fund. with the benefits of the tournament to compensate the victims and their families.
