http://www.news.com.au/sport/more-s...rld-cup-in-qatar/story-fndukor0-1226866423595
The International Trade Union Confederation recently released an extensive report on the working and living conditions of migrant workers in Qatar. It’s staggering.
There are about 1.4 million of those workers living in the Middle Eastern nation right now. A huge proportion of them are building stadiums and infrastructure for the World Cup. And if labour conditions in Qatar don’t improve, “at least 4000” migrant workers could die before the tournament kicks off in eight years.
“I went on site this morning at 5am and there was blood everywhere,” says one worker quoted by the ITUC.
“I don’t know what happened, but it was covered up with no report. When I reported this, I was told that if I didn’t stop complaining, I would be dismissed.”
Other migrant workers are desperate to be dismissed, so to speak. They want to collect the pay they’re owed and leave the country.
“Our contract expired, yet the employer has not paid our salaries between one to three months, nor has he provided end of contract benefits or tickets home,” says one such worker.
“Each time we come to the office, it is always, ‘Come back in a couple of days and you will have your pay and tickets.’”
The workers are housed in cramped accommodation with terrible food and no clean drinking water, which is inhumane enough. But on top of that, they’re dying at a shocking rate.
The ITUC claims its estimate of 4000 deaths is a conservative one. It has calculated that figure using statistics from two embassies in Qatar — those of Nepal and India, whose nationals account for roughly half of the migrant workforce.
The International Trade Union Confederation recently released an extensive report on the working and living conditions of migrant workers in Qatar. It’s staggering.
There are about 1.4 million of those workers living in the Middle Eastern nation right now. A huge proportion of them are building stadiums and infrastructure for the World Cup. And if labour conditions in Qatar don’t improve, “at least 4000” migrant workers could die before the tournament kicks off in eight years.
“I went on site this morning at 5am and there was blood everywhere,” says one worker quoted by the ITUC.
“I don’t know what happened, but it was covered up with no report. When I reported this, I was told that if I didn’t stop complaining, I would be dismissed.”
Other migrant workers are desperate to be dismissed, so to speak. They want to collect the pay they’re owed and leave the country.
“Our contract expired, yet the employer has not paid our salaries between one to three months, nor has he provided end of contract benefits or tickets home,” says one such worker.
“Each time we come to the office, it is always, ‘Come back in a couple of days and you will have your pay and tickets.’”
The workers are housed in cramped accommodation with terrible food and no clean drinking water, which is inhumane enough. But on top of that, they’re dying at a shocking rate.
The ITUC claims its estimate of 4000 deaths is a conservative one. It has calculated that figure using statistics from two embassies in Qatar — those of Nepal and India, whose nationals account for roughly half of the migrant workforce.
