Equidem is a human rights and labour rights charity working globally and locally to promote the rights of marginalised communities, holding those accountable for serious offences. It reported that the hotel in which the English players stayed during the World Cup was responsible for the following breaches of human rights: discrimination in wages and promotion; charging workers recruitment fees; illegal wage deductions below the minimum wage; making it difficult for workers to leave employment and the country; and exposing workers to Covid-19.
Equidem recently produced two reports on Qatar: ‘If We Complain We Are Fired: Discrimination and Exploitation of Migrant Construction Workers on FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Stadium Sites’ and ‘We Work Like Robots: Discrimination and Exploitation of Migrant Workers in FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Hotels’. Read these at https://www.equidem.org/assets/downloads/Equidem_Qatar_World_Cup_Stadiums_Report_Final.pdf and https://www.equidem.org/reports/we-work-like-robots
A report by the Trade Union Congress, ‘I Have Nothing – Workers’ Rights and the Qatar 2022 World Cup’, based on primary research with migrant workers in Qatar, reached similar conclusions. On the positive side, thanks to global campaigning, the typical situation for workers in Qatar is stronger than it was eight years ago, but the kafala system continues, and attempting to get any compensation for injuries or death is ‘difficult, expensive and could take years’. The Qatari labour minister has refused to support a compensation fund proposed by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International for exploited migrant workers and the families of workers who have died. The report says ‘workers are still paying a shockingly high price to deliver the most expensive World Cup in history’: at a cost of £180bn, it is at least 12 times more than the last host Russia. Read the report at https://www.tuc.org.uk/research-analysis/reports/i-have-nothing-qatar-2022-world-cup.