Several trade unions operating in Qatar have highlighted worsening conditions for migrant workers after the conclusion of the 2022 World Cup.
That tournament, which took place between November and December last year, was already controversial for its treatment of migrant workers, as well as the criminalisation of homosexuality and the restriction of women’s rights.
Their call for attention comes on the eve of the FIFA Congress in Rwanda. FIFA has already agreed to discuss World Cup human rights abuses and migrant worker deaths during the congress, at the request of the Norwegian Football Federation.
During the World Cup, FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced plans for a permanent International Labour Organization (ILO) office in Qatar’s capital, Doha, but said western calls for a compensation fund for the families of workers who had died were unnecessary.
Led by the Building and Wood Workers International (BWI), alongside seven other unions, the Global Union Federations have now expressed “serious concerts over the sustainability” of these labour reforms.
They claim that “reports reveal continuous breaches of the new labour legislation by rogue employers,” while also adding there has been “a sudden halt of meaningful cooperation” with the unions.
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