Congress 2014 Resolution 75 - QATAR

Congress notes there are over two million migrant workers in Qatar. These workers are forced to live in abject squalor and operate under the kafala system, a form of bonded labour where their passports are removed and they cannot leave Qatar without their employer’s permission. Construction workers earn as little as 56 pence per hour and wages are often withheld for up to five months. In the summer, workers are required to work excessive hours, six days a week in temperatures reaching 55 degrees.

Congress is appalled that since the 2022 World Cup was awarded to Qatar in 2010 at least 1,380 construction workers from India and Nepal have died and the death rates of all migrant workers will be far higher. The majority of deaths are recorded as cardiac arrest or natural causes and as a result families are denied compensation.

Congress believes the announcement that the Qatar Government is to reform the kafala system is a sham and the changes do not comply with ILO conventions.

Congress calls on the General Council and all unions to put pressure on FIFA to put Qatar on notice that the exploitation of migrant workers must end or they will be stripped of the World Cup.

Those reforms to include:

i     the complete abolition of the kafala system

ii    migrant workers to have the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining

iii   independent labour inspections

iv   occupational health and safety standards to meet international standards

v    an effective labour disputes system

vi   decent living conditions.