Published on : 19/05/2022 – 02:59
The NGO Amnesty International estimated on Thursday that compensation of 440 million dollars for workers who worked in Qatar in degraded conditions on the construction sites of the World Cup-2022 infrastructure is the “minimum”. FIFA says it is “currently evaluating” this request.
The NGO Amnesty International asked Fifa on Thursday, May 19, to pay compensation of at least $ 440 million to “mistreated” migrant workers in Qatar, host country of the 2022 World Cup football accused of not enough respect their rights.
Amnesty’s request, backed by other human rights organisations, comes after repeated criticism of football’s governing body’s slowness to respond to poor working conditions for workers who have flocked to the construction sites linked to the world in the rich Gulf State.
“Fifa should dedicate at least $440 million (about 418 million euros) to reparations for the damage suffered by the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who were victims of human rights violations in Qatar during the preparations for the 2022 World Cup. “Amnesty said in a statement.
Unpaid wages and work accidents
According to Amnesty, this sum, which corresponds to the allocation that the 32 participating teams will share, is the “minimum necessary” to compensate the workers and protect them from future abuses. The organization cites in particular unpaid wages, the payment of “illegal” and “exorbitant” recruitment fees as well as damage caused by accidents at work.
The London-based NGO urged Fifa to “work with Qatar to put in place a comprehensive reparations program with the participation of workers, trade unions, the International Labor Organization (ILO) and civil society”. Since 2010, when Fifa awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, a “litany of abuse” has marred the preparations without the body requiring “the slightest improvement in working conditions”, accused Amnesty.
Important but insufficient social reforms
Amnesty nevertheless welcomed the social reforms decided by Qatar since 2018 and the improvement of conditions on official World Cup sites initiated in 2014. But according to the NGO, these rules are not always respected and abuses persist.
In a comment sent to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Fifa said it was “currently evaluating the proposal from Amnesty” and other NGOs, saying it “involves a wide range of public infrastructures built (in Qatar) since 2010 which are not necessarily linked to the World Cup”.
Criticized since it was awarded the first world football in an Arab country, Qatar has carried out major reforms, abolishing the sponsorship system making employees quasi-properties of their employer and establishing a minimum hourly wage. The country firmly rejects the death tolls on construction sites put forward by international media.
With AFP