Modern-Day Slavery in Qatar
Following its bid for hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the natural gas-rich nation of Qatar engaged in a period of rapid growth. The construction of new roadways, skyscrapers, and even entire cities has begun in order to facilitate Qatar's rapidly increasing population of expatriates. An estimated 68% of Qatar's ever-growing workforce consists of migrant workers from Southern Asia. The working and living conditions of these workers have come under scrutiny and received massive amounts of criticism from organizations both within Qatar and around the world. Under what is known as the kafala sponsorship system, a worker can only come to work in Qatar under their employer, or sponsor. The sponsor will often take the employee's passport, resulting in the employee being unable to leave the country without their employer's permission. This often leads to the exploitation and abuse of these migrant laborers. It has been revealed that it is not uncommon for these workers to live in deplorable conditions, work in extremely dangerous environments, and to receive less than half their promised salary. The kafala system needs to be changed in order to improve the human rights conditions in Qatar.
Many international organizations are already calling upon Qatar to repeal the kafala system. Prominent human-rights organizations, political, and even athletic figures have spoken out against kafala. Soccer fans have demanded that Qatar be stripped of its grant to host the World Cup in 2022 due to the work-related deaths of over 4000 laborers that are estimated to occur by 2022. According to the Human Rights Watch World Report 2014, migrant workers often "live in cramped, unsanitary conditions.” and "authorities rarely, if ever, bring criminal prosecutions against employers for violating Qatar's anti-trafficking laws." The Nepalese embassy in Qatar reports that over 400 laborers have died while working on construction related to the World Cup since 2010, and that's not including the deaths of workers from other countries like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, or the Philippines.
The repeal of the kafala system could greatly improve the lives of Qatar's migrant laborer population. The system has led to what many human rights organizations are calling modern-day slavery. 90% of migrant workers have reported their passports being taken by their employers upon entering the country. When a sponsor confiscates their employee's passport, the worker has almost no way to exit the country without their sponsor's permission, regardless of the working and living conditions and abuse that they may have suffered at the hands of their employers. Workers are also often limited in the movement and travel they are able to make within Qatar. Many laborers are forced to go directly back to their living camps after work, unable to go out for leisure or even shop for food. A company's ability to control their employees' movements so strictly can lead to an owner and slave relationship between sponsor and worker. When the worker has extremely limited avenues to report abuse and leave the country, the employer can force the employee to work in dangerous construction zones and deplorable living conditions for little or no pay and with little or no medical care.
In fact, over 54% of migrant workers in Qatar are not given a government health card or access to essential medical care by their employers. In 2013 alone, over 150 Nepalese laborers died from work-related accidents, suicide, and even heart attacks. These workers were otherwise healthy men, most of them in their 20's, who were forced to work in the 115o heat of the Qatari summer. In a report from the International Trade Union Confederation, an anonymous construction manager based in Qatar described the working conditions that many laborers are forced into as "the worst I have ever encountered in and out of construction." He also mentioned that after reporting a dangerous incident, he was told that if he "didn't stop complaining, [he] would be dismissed." In the same report, a Nepali truck driver recounted his time in Qatar. His leg was badly injured on his job site, and after receiving emergency surgery at a hospital, was told that it would potentially be amputated due to infection. He left the hospital with open wounds in his leg that required a daily dressing change by a medical professional. However, the man could not leave his living camp without being transported by his company, who refused to pay any of the medical expenses or transport him to a clinic. The wounds became infected and left his leg useless.
It is all too common for migrant workers to come to Qatar and receive only a small percentage of their promised salary, that is, if they are paid at all. Nearly one out of every five workers has reported being paid less than they were guaranteed. Laborers and construction workers are not the only migrants who suffer from unfair treatment at the hands of their employers. Housemaids and nannies working in Qatar, who also mainly hail from Southern Asia, report many of the same troubles as the laborers, including cramped living spaces, meager wages, and even physical abuse. An anonymous Indonesian woman recounted her experience working as a housemaid in Qatar. For two years, she was physically abused by her employer, who forced her to live in a closet-sized room and paid her less than half her promised salary. By the time two daring and generous expats rescued her and took her to the hospital, she had scars, bruises, and wounds all over her face and body, yet her abusive sponsor was never punished for his actions.
Although the kafala system can lead to very serious human rights issues, it’s important to look at why the system was implemented. When a company sponsors an employee, they assume full legal responsibility of them. This means that if a sponsored employee were to break the law or commit a crime, the Qatari government would hold both the employee and their sponsor accountable. Companies may also invest money in their new employees by paying for their training. If the employee runs away from the country during or shortly after their training, it could potentially mean hundreds or thousands of dollars wasted and lost on one person. When companies have the ability to limit travel by confiscating passports, and limit the worker's actions within Qatar by setting up strict curfew and transport rules, they ensure they lose as little money as possible. However, as previously stated, the system also makes it very easy to exploit and abuse workers.
I understand why people who live outside of Qatar wouldn't care much about the plight of migrant workers who work in this oil-rich country. However, considering football (or soccer, if you live in the U.S.) is one of the most widely played and enjoyed sports in the world, more people should care. Over 3 million people attended the World Cup in Brazil last year, while over 715 million more watched on television around the world, and even more are expected to tune into Qatar's World Cup in 2022. If this much exposure is given to the game itself, even more should be given to the troubles of migrant workers who will work for over a decade to build the stadiums and infrastructure for the game. Those who support Qatar's World Cup will be supporting a sporting event built upon slave labor.
Despite promises made by the Qatari government to make changes to its labor laws, earlier this year, an Amnesty researcher, Mustafa Qadri, told a local Qatar news site, Doha News, “It’s already very clear that very little has changed,” and “We interviewed hundreds of workers who haven’t been paid for months and don’t have valid IDs. It’s not their fault. It’s the fault of their employers.” If the kafala system were changed, Qatar could earn a better international reputation and gain revenue from tourism and business. But even more importantly, the lives of hundreds of thousands of migrant workers would be vastly improved. Qatar has a chance to set a great example for other countries and to lead the way to ending modern-day slavery, starting with itself.
Citations:
Amnesty International. "The Dark Side of Migration." Amnesty.org. Amnesty International, 1 Jan. 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2015
Walker, Lesley. "Qatar Fares Poorly in Latest Global Slavery Index Report - Doha News."Doha News. Doha News, 18 Nov. 2014. Web. 14 Mar. 2015.
Amnesty International "‘My sleep is my break’: Exploitation of Migrant Domestic Workers in Qatar" Amnesty.org Amnesty International 2014 Web. 15 Mar. 2015
Pattisson, Pete. "Revealed: Qatar's World Cup 'slaves'" The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited, 25 Sept. 2013. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.
Swart, Gemma. "Qatar Response to Labour Rights Violations Weak and Disappointing."International Trade Union Confederation. ITUC, 1 Oct. 2013. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.
Kovessy, Peter. "Amnesty: 'Very Little Has Changed' for Qatar's Low-income Workers - Doha News." Doha News. Doha News, 15 Mar. 2015. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.