"Amnesty: delay in Qatar labour reforms is ‘recipe for human rights disaster’", 1 December 2015

On the eve of the fifth anniversary of Qatar winning the right to host the 2022 World Cup, Amnesty International has warned the Gulf state has done too little to address “rampant migrant labour abuse” and that fans will be benefiting from the blood of migrant workers if nothing changes. Since Qatar won the right to host the World Cup, beating the USA in the final round of voting in December 2010, the decision has proved endlessly controversial. Alongside bribery allegations over how the bid was won, denied by Qatar 2022, and concerns over the searing summer heat in the tiny Gulf state that led to the tournament being moved to December, there has been long standing concern over the treatment of migrant workers building the infrastructure to host the World Cup...“Too little has been done to address rampant migrant labour abuse. Qatar’s persistent labour reform delays are a recipe for human-rights disaster,” said Mustafa Qadri, Gulf migrant rights researcher at Amnesty International. “The reforms proposed by the government fail to tackle the central issues that leave so many workers at the mercy of employers, yet even these changes have been delayed.” The reforms included changes to the exit visa system and to the kafala laws that tie workers to their employer. The Qatar 2022 supreme committee introduced a worker’s charter for those specifically building its stadiums and vast labour cities are being built to house migrant workers in better conditions, though not at a rate to cater for a population that is expected to reach 2m within two years...