Workers' rights and the Qatar World Cup - Patrick's story
When I started work in Qatar, I got paid for the first three months only. For the next four months I carried on working without pay. It wasn’t just me. I think we were 200 workers in total. Nobody was being paid. You go to the office and say you want your money and they say, ‘Inshallah, Inshallah.’ I got tired of that word.
So I filed a case at the labour court but my worksite was in a remote place and it cost almost 250 rials (£60) to get to the court and back. I didn’t have cash so I had to call people back home to get the money.
I had to go to the labour court three times. My employer was informed of the case but did not respond, because he knew at one point I would run out of money.
I eventually got a notification that my case was being forwarded to the high court but I didn’t know that you have to check up on your case in person each month. When I got to the court, they told me there was no record of my case. It had been removed.
They advised me to look for a company which was willing to provide a new visa. I found one, but they wanted 5000 rials (£1200) to manage the process.
I borrowed 2000 rials from someone but since I did not have any money, I had to give him my passport as security. If I want my passport, I have to pay him back.
So I gave the new company 2000 rials and still owe it 3000. They told me the process takes one month, but two and a half months later I’m still waiting for my documents. Until then, I can’t get a job.
I last sent money to my wife seven months ago. How do you expect her to survive? I pray it doesn’t happen, but she may be forced to do anything, because when you don’t have support, you know what happens.
I have no visa, no ID card, no passport. I have nothing. Even if you arrest me, I have nothing. I cannot even go home because I have overstayed my visa and need to pay a penalty fee before I can leave.
I don’t think Qatar deserves to host the World Cup. The people who have contributed a lot to this tournament; they are not in good health, they are not in good condition and they are not being paid. So how do you expect me to be supportive?
*Some of the interviews in this briefing have been edited for brevity, clarity and to protect workers’ identities. Names have been changed for the same reason.