Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) Just one week ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2022, Qatar’s Labour Minister has rejected calls from human rights groups to compensate migrant workers involved in building stadiums and other infrastructure.
A global campaign called #PayUpFIFA was launched by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and other activist groups in May, calling on the international football governing body FIFA to provide an adequate remedy and to avoid the legacy of what they call a ‘World Cup of Shame’.
But Labour Minister Ali bin Samikh Al-Marri said on Wednesday that this was a “publicity stunt”, accusing Qatar’s critics of “racism”. Al-Marri claimed his country was already handing out hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid wages.
Regarding this hot topic, Brussels Morning talked to Alexis Deswaef a lawyer and human rights activist that is the vice-president of the FIDH.
He stated that the Human Rights problems in Qatar are not limited to the working conditions of the migrant workers.
“At the FIDH, to say it briefly, we consider that the efforts made by Qatar, under the pressure of the international community, are too little, too slow, and too late, just before the Worldcup,” said Deswaef for the newspaper.
Having Qatar hosting the World Cup cannot be defended as it provides the country with an international aura despite persistent severe human rights violations. On top of the disregard for workers’ human rights, women in Qatar are still subjected to many forms of discrimination, particularly with regard to the guardianship system they undergo. They are required to have the permission of their male guardians to marry, study abroad on state scholarships, work in various public jobs, travel abroad and receive reproductive health care.
Female domestic workers are particularly affected by poor working conditions. LGBTQIA+ individuals face repression. Homosexuality is criminalized, and the Penal Code provides a sentence of up to seven years of imprisonment for same-sex relations. Similarly, human rights defenders are subject to repressive measures as they risk travel bans, arbitrary detention, or even enforced disappearance, becoming prisoners of conscience.
FIFA, its sponsor, and its partners should all use their leverage to push Qatar to pursue the legislative reforms needed to protect migrant workers, women, and LGBTQIA+, as the efforts made are until now inadequate.
