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With less than three months to go before the World Cup, the British NGO Equidem accuses Qatar on Monday of having expelled dozens of foreign workers who organized a rare demonstration to demand their unpaid wages.
Three months before the World Cup, a new controversy erupts over human rights in Qatar. The British NGO Equidem accuses, Monday, August 23, the gas state of having expelled dozens of foreign workers who organized a rare demonstration to demand their unpaid wages.
The authorities of Qatar, regularly criticized by international NGOs for the treatment of hundreds of thousands of workers from Asia in particular on the major construction sites of the World Cup-2022, confirmed the detention of demonstrators but refused to say whether some had been expelled.
At least 60 workers expelled
During a protest on August 14, at least 60 workers – some of whom had not been paid for seven months – blocked traffic outside the Al Bandary company in Doha, Equidem, a consultancy organization, said in a statement. specialist in human rights and labor rights based in London. The demonstration was organized as part of the “Pay up Fifa” campaign demanding the payment of unpaid wages.
Qatar: rare demonstration of foreign workers in the center of Doha. 3 months from the World Cup. They have not received their salaries. Such demonstrations have already taken place in the industrial area, but rarely in the city center.https://t.co/AFXh83T0MB
— Georges Malbrunot (@Malbrunot) August 15, 2022
“We spoke to protesting workers and one who was deported to Nepal. We confirmed he had returned home, and others from Nepal, Bangladesh, India , Egypt and the Philippines were also expelled,” said Equidem executive director Mustafa Qadri.
Qatar’s government said on Sunday that “a number of protesters have been arrested for violating public safety laws.”
“A minority of people who have not protested peacefully and acted in violation of public safety laws face deportation by court order,” he added without giving details on the number of affected workers.
The Ministry of Labor said for its part that it paid the salaries of Al Bandary workers, without further details. He added that “action” had been taken against the company, which was already under investigation for non-payment of wages.
The World Cup begins in the small, wealthy gas state on November 20. Human rights groups stepped up their campaigns ahead of the World Cup and called on FIFA to pay compensation to workers. But Doha defends itself by stressing that it has taken measures to improve the conditions of foreign workers, by imposing a minimum wage and by prohibiting the omnipotence of certain employers who prevented their employees from leaving the country or changing jobs.
With AFP
