INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Global criticism of the treatment of hundreds of thousands of workers from countries such as Nepal, India and Bangladesh who have been
building Qatar’s World Cup dream led to the Gulf state introducing a range of labour policy changes that it says have improved the lives
Have those changes worked and how likely are they to be sustained after the tournament? A panel of experts give their view.Geoffrey: ‘Is
it fair play when there is nothing for the workers?’The World Cup is like a slap in the face of workers.I have spoken to thousands of them
They don’t know their rights; their contracts are violated; there is discriminatory pay, and then there’s the weather
People are working in severe temperatures
Workers have been dying in their sleep
These deaths may be caused by the work, and their families should be compensated.At least there is a minimum wage now
Before, there was no way you could complain about your salary, but now you know you should get at least 1,000 rials a month (£245)
The problem is that it is too low
How many billions of dollars has Qatar spent on preparations for the World Cup? The minimum wage is a drop in the ocean.We are dealing with
new laws and new institutions, and changing practices that have been deeply entrenched for decadesMax Tuñón, International Labour
OrganizationKafala [a systemunder which workers cannot freely change jobs] was abolished for two or three months only
After that, these powerful Qataris who own big companies complained and the changes were watered down
Now there is a requirement to get your company to approve your resignation
This is like bringing the kafala system again through the back door.The first time I was detained in Qatar was for trying to change my job
I could deal with it because I know my rights, but what about the thousands of workers who don’t know their rights? People have been
deported just for trying to change companies.Fifa talks a lot about “fair play”
Is it really fair play when there is nothing for the workers? Yes, a lot of workers got employment but it was under exploitative conditions
I think a country’s human rights record should be part of the evaluation process when awarding a World Cup
For Fifa, it was an afterthought.Geoffrey, a Kenyan, worked in Qatar for three and a half years
While there, he also worked for the human rights group Equidem as a researcher and advocate for workers’ rights
He was detained three times and has now returned home, where he continues his advocacy workMax Tuñón: ‘Now workers can negotiate for
better conditions’Earlier this year, we commissioned a survey among 1,000 low-wage workers, and found that 86% of respondents felt that
the labour reforms had positively affected their lives.Changes to the kafala system have led to labour mobility
Now workers can negotiate for better conditions, and employers are incentivised to provide them in order to attract and retain
talent.Legislation has also been introduced on the minimum wage, on protecting outdoor workers during the summer months, and on the election
of migrant worker representatives within companies.Over the past five years, the government has engaged closely with the ILO [International
Labour Organization], international trade unions, NGOs and others
Notably, staff from the global unions are based with us here in Doha, raising awareness among workers, and helping them to resolve the
problems they face.There’s no accountability
The government doesn’t enforce its own laws effectivelyConstruction managerThere is universal acknowledgment that the work is not complete
Among our top priorities, there’s the need to address the retaliation by some employers against workers who wish to change jobs; to
streamline access to justice and the recovery of due wages; and to ensure that the law protecting domestic workers is fully implemented.We
are all impatient to see the reforms fully applied and enforced, but we also recognise that we are dealing with new laws and new
institutions, and changing practices that have been deeply entrenched for decades.The World Cup was never the finish line, but rather a key
milestone in Qatar’s longer-term strategy, which includes competing for skilled workers in an increasingly global market.Construction
manager: ‘All they want is to tick boxes’The companies I work for are just getting away with everything
There are many people now walking around Qatar who have lost their jobs, haven’t received their end-of-service benefits or months of
I’ve seen a lot of good people suffer and it’s absolutely linked to the World Cup.Qatar wanted to build everything as cheaply as
All the big contractors were fighting one another to win the work
They were winning jobs at any cost
As Qatar started slowing down its construction [before the World Cup], all these contractors then started to face problems … and where
they save their money is by not paying suppliers or our salaries and end of services.Reforms and reactions have been to primarily ward off
criticism, without focusing on buy-in and behavioural change locallyVani Saraswathi, Migrant RightsAll the government and supreme committee
[the local body organising the World Cup] want to do is tick boxes, show a good report and just hope and pray that no one finds out.I’ve
worked on a number of World Cup projects and we had good workers’ accommodation and bad workers’ accommodation
We did all our inspections at the good accommodation
This is how it works.There’s no accountability
The government doesn’t enforce its own laws effectively
They did allow workers to change jobs … but the bad companies were losing all their workers, so the owners went to the government and
said, “Stop this.” It’s 50% the contractors’ fault and 50% the government’s fault
The country is too small for them not to know what’s going on.Once the World Cup’s finished, that’s it
The eyes of the world will no longer be on Qatar
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We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the GooglePrivacy Policy andTerms of Serviceapply.Vani Saraswathi: ‘The true test will
happen after the World Cup’Qatar has made significant strides in terms of labour reforms in the past five years
In a region hostile to civil society interventions or criticism, Qatar has engaged with its critics
No doubt the World Cup was effective leverage to compel it to do so.When we speak of reforms, we have two main components – in principle,
what’s been implemented and, in practice, what’s been enforced
Much of our concern is with the latter.Every claim of reform the Qatari authorities make has to be heavily caveatedPete Pattisson,
investigative journalistThe removal of the no-objection certificate [which workers required from their employer in order to change jobs] was
by far the most important of the changes
It gave migrant workers an opportunity to tap into the local job market for better opportunities
For the first few months, the job change process was almost seamless, until employers started pushing back
Other parts of the kafala system, particularly the power of employers to report workers as “absconding”, were misused to keep workers in
check, negating to a large degree the effectiveness of the reforms
Advocates for Qatar keep arguing – weakly, in my opinion – that cultural change will take longer and what must be appreciated are the
This is not about culture but selective reforms that still give power to the employer.The true test, and the real opportunity for meaningful
change, will happen after the World Cup
The relentless – and, at times, unfair – scrutiny Qatar has faced in the last 12 years means reforms and reactions have been to
primarily ward off criticism, without focusing on buy-in and behavioural change locally
As a result, the powerful business owners cock a snook at the reforms and continue unchecked with their exploitative practices.I’d like to
believe Qatar will not regress on its legal commitments post-2022, but if they are to be enforced, it will require dialogue at the
grassroots level to show that ensuring the human rights of migrant workers and business profitability is not a zero-sum game.Vani Saraswathi
is the editor-at-large of the website for Migrant Rights, an organisation that advocates for migrant rights across the GulfPete Pattisson:
‘The system is effectively still in place’Qatar’s two flagship labour reforms are the introduction of a minimum wage and the abolition
The first is a scandal, the second largely a failure.The minimum wage is the equivalent of about £1 an hour
This is poverty pay, in one of the richest countries in the world per capita
Employers must also provide food and board, or an additional allowance to pay for them
The food allowance is about £2 a day.The abolition of kafala worked for a few months, but today the system is effectively still in place
On my recent visits to Qatar, almost every worker I spoke to said they were unable to change jobs, leaving them at the mercy of abusive
employers.Both reforms only came into force 10 years after Qatar won the right to host the World Cup, and long after most of the stadiums
and infrastructure were completed.That is not to say nothing has changed, but every claim of reform the Qatari authorities make has to be
heavily caveated.New workers’ accommodation has been built, but many thousands still live in squalid, overcrowded dorms.The World Cup
organising committee has introduced a scheme to partly reimburse the huge illegal fees workers are forced to pay to secure their jobs, but
it only benefits a fraction of Qatar’s low-wage workforce.Regulations have been put in place to limit labourers’ exposure to the searing
summer heat, but the authorities have done little to investigate the sudden and unexplained deaths of thousands of workers
Countless families of deceased workers have been left without compensation.The Qatari authorities and Fifa claim the World Cup will leave a
lasting legacy of better workers’ rights in the country and the region
Some of the reforms have stalled even before a ball has been kicked.
This article first appeared/also appeared in theguardian.com
