En ny rapport fra Amnesty International melder om slavelignende forhold for migrant-arbejdere i den hovedrige arabiske oliestat, Qatars, byggeindustri. Organisationen opfordrer verdenssamfundet til at lægge pres på golfstaten forud for VM i fodbold i 2022 (VM i 2018 holdes i Rusland).
LONDON, 17 November 2013 (Amnesty): “A new report by Amnesty International finds Qatar’s construction sector rife with abuse (overgreb /misbrug), with workers employed on multi-million dollar projects suffering serious exploitation.
As construction is set to begin on the FIFA World Cup 2022 stadiums, the report, “The Dark Side of Migration: Spotlight on Qatar’s construction sector ahead of the World Cup”, unpicks complex contractual chains and reveals widespread and routine abuse of migrant workers – in some cases amounting to forced labour.
“It is simply inexcusable in one of the richest countries in the world, that so many migrant workers are being ruthlessly exploited, deprived of their pay and left struggling to survive,” said Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
The report, based on interviews with workers, employers and government officials, documents a range of abuses against migrant workers. These include non-payment of wages, harsh and dangerous working conditions, and shocking standards of accommodation.
Researchers also met dozens of construction workers who were prevented from leaving the country for many months by their employers – leaving them trapped in Qatar with no way out.
“The world’s spotlight will continue to shine on Qatar in the run-up to the 2022 World Cup offering the government a unique chance to demonstrate on a global stage that they are serious about their commitment to human rights and can act as a role model to the rest of the region,” said Salil Shetty.
FAKTA
* There are some 1.35 million foreign nationals working in Qatar.
* Migrant workers now make up some 94 per cent of the total workforce in the country.
* 90% had their passports held by their employers
* 56% did not have a government health card, essential to access public hospitals
* 21% “sometimes, rarely or never” received their salary on time
* 20% got a different salary than had been promised
* 15% worked in a different job to the one promised”
