huffingtonpost/ Qatar 2022 DEATH CUP: 4,000 KILLED BY QATAR 2022? Soccer Lords Admit Some Responsibility... Claim Theyre Powerless To Do More... REPORT: Nearly 200 Nepalis Dead In A Year... Unnatural Deaths... Comments (103) | Shares (215) | Qatar huffingtonpost/2014/03/21/qatar-migrant-workers_n_5009105.html Migrant Workers In World Cup Host Qatar Enslaved, Living In Squalor: Report The Huffington Post | by Dave Jamieson Email RSS Posted: 03/21/2014 4:28 pm EDT Updated: 03/21/2014 4:59 pm EDT Print Article MORE: Qatar Migrant Workers Fifa Qatar Labor Laws Qatar Fifa World Cup 2014 Qatar World Cup Doha Qatar World Cup Workers Migrant Workers World Cup World Cup Qatar Sports News After visiting labor camps near the Qatari capital of Doha, an international federation of trade unions has issued a blistering report chronicling the labor and human rights abuses unfolding in the host country of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Drawing on data from the Indian and Nepalese embassies, the International Trade Union Confederation estimates that 4,000 more workers could die before the World Cup gets underway in 2022 if the workforce grows as expected. The group calls Qatar a country with only a facade of government, and says that impoverished migrant workers from abroad are living in squalid conditions while beholden to employers who control their identification cards and exit visas. Working in unbelievable heat six days a week, such migrants are now dying in unprecedented numbers, according to the reports authors. Grown men said they were treated like animals, living like horses in a stable, the report states. Tragically a small number of Qatari power brokers have chosen to build the trappings of a modern economy off the backs of exploited and enslaved workers. The report follows Amnesty Internationals call earlier this week for FIFA to address the apparent human rights abuses surrounding the construction of the World Cup facilities. An Amnesty representative said FIFA, soccers international governing body, was involved in the mess whether it likes it or not. Back in September, the Guardian released an investigative report on the deaths of dozens of Nepali construction workers. At least 44 workers perished, half of them from heart attacks, between June 4 and Aug. 8 of last year, according to the report. The investigation found that many of the primarily South Asian migrants building the World Cups infrastructure arent even supplied with enough food and water. On Friday, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said the organization bears some responsibility for the squalid working conditions but came up short of saying it would intervene. We have some responsibility but we cannot interfere in the rights of workers, Blatter said, according to the AFP. We are insisting that the responsibilities lie first with the state of Qatar and secondly with the companies employing the workers. Blatter added that he hoped FIFA can help resolve this problem through football. Detailing the conditions for migrant workers in Qatar more generally, the ITUC report said that workers are commonly supplied with salty water for cooking and bathing, and can be forced by their employers to pay deposits of $275 before taking vacation. More than 2,000 Indonesian maids are leaving Qatar each year due to abuses, the report states. The union federation is calling upon Qatar -- and, through the pressure they can bring to bear, FIFA itself -- to abolish the kafala system, a form of sponsorship that bounds a foreign migrant worker to his or her host employer. Its common for bosses to confiscate passports or refuse to issue identification cards to keep workers captive, according to the report. ITUC is also calling upon Qatar to establish laws guaranteeing living wages and collective bargaining rights for workers. FIFA can make a difference by making the abolishment of kafala and the respect of international rights a condition of Qatar hosting the World Cup in 2022, wrote Sharan Burrow, ITUCs general secretary. Suggest a correction From our partners March Madness Doppelgangers - BLEACHER REPORT Secret Talents Of Athletes - BLEACHERREPORT.COM Chris Bosh Owns The Most Expensive Home Among NBA Players - BLEACHER REPORT Around the Web FIFA powerless over Qatar labour rights Broken promises: Qatars migrant workers caught in the kafala system The migrant workers in Qatar Over 500 migrant workers died in Qatar Labours Jim Murphy asks Fifa member to join him on trip to Qatar 91 people are discussing this article with 103 comments 250 words PreviewSubmit Highlighted Most Recent Oldest Most Faved My Conversations Jeremy Fortner (CosmoSmith) 44 SUPER USER·1,440 Fans Working people to death with little or no pay? How Republican One Percent of them. 21 MAR 9:43 PM REPLY FAVE SHARE MORE T.J. Y. (MR818) 17 102 Fans This is a wet dream for anyone that wants to abandon unions and treat corporations like people. 21 MAR 10:04 PM REPLY FAVE SHARE MORE 6 PEOPLE IN THE CONVERSATION Read Conversation → Bill Thacker (wbthacker) 43 SUPER USER·532 Fans·Can YOU pass the Turing Test? We have some responsibility but we cannot interfere in the rights of workers, Blatter said, according to the AFP. We are insisting that the responsibilities lie first with the state of Qatar and secondly with the companies employing the workers. Blatter added that he hoped FIFA can help resolve this problem through football. Resolve the problem through football? What? Youre going to send a referee to give them a red card or something? FIFAs answer is unacceptable. They absolutely have the power to say, Were not playing World Cup soccer on the corpses of 4000 dead workers. Were moving the games to a civilized country instead. Soccer is now a blood sport. 21 MAR 9:52 PM REPLY FAVE SHARE MORE John . (bvm49) 7 30 Fans Your third paragraph says it all. Fanned and Faved 21 MAR 10:15 PM REPLY FAVE SHARE MORE 3 PEOPLE IN THE CONVERSATION Read Conversation → Bobby Newell (kevinbr38) 30 SUPER USER·5,183 Fans·Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth Contrary to what Sepp Blater says, FIFA can in fact do something... They can take the games away from Qatar and award them to another country. There are plenty of countries that have enough infrastructure already in place to be able to meet the deadline. The reality is that Qatar has bought the tournament, and FIFA cant back out because its members have already pocketed the cash. FIFA is complicit in the abuse being carried out on migrant workers in Qatar... A country btw, whos climate/temperatures are most unsuited to athletic events at that time of the year. 21 MAR 9:54 PM REPLY FAVE SHARE MORE John . (bvm49) 3 30 Fans Fanned and faved 21 MAR 10:16 PM REPLY FAVE SHARE MORE 3 PEOPLE IN THE CONVERSATION Read Conversation → Paul M. (Cratewasher) 25 SUPER USER·1,026 Fans·I mock hawks Republican corporatism carried to its logical extension. The GOP wants the kind of corporate freedoms Qatar enjoys. 21 MAR 9:51 PM REPLY FAVE SHARE MORE Easten C. (modernman55) 18 SUPER USER·318 Fans·Just a sample of carbon-based wastage It is sad how invisible genocides receive passive shoulder shrugs by the world. 21 MAR 9:41 PM REPLY FAVE SHARE MORE Bsr J. (Hzero01) 4 SUPER USER·519 Fans·In times of Lies, the Truth is a Revolutionary Act I prefer to watch cat videos online 21 MAR 10:07 PM REPLY FAVE SHARE MORE 3 PEOPLE IN THE CONVERSATION Read Conversation → Brandon Kufalk (Elbrando) 18 SUPER USER·1,602 Fans·The dream shall never die - Ted Kennedy This is what happens when you put prfit over people. 21 MAR 9:44 PM REPLY FAVE SHARE MORE Theresa Perry (PamperedHousecat) 2 SUPER USER·897 Fans·Dogs drool, cats rule Yes, and also if those with the financial power get to influence the political power. 31 MINUTES AGO REPLY FAVE SHARE MORE 3 PEOPLE IN THE CONVERSATION Read Conversation → Roy M. (Roy_Merritt_old_car_guy) 15 SUPER USER·825 Fans·Loves Nostalgia Dragsters How about the Republicans quit trying to kill Labor Unions in the United States and how about America paying living wage of no less than $11 an hour instead of the slave like $7.25 an hour. Where is outrage at America for the highest poverty rate in the industrialized world. 21 MAR 10:07 PM REPLY FAVE SHARE MORE Daniel S. (The_New_Independent) 7 Fans I understand where your comments come from, but I have to point out that while you bemoan Americans living on a slave like $7.25 an hour, you should be aware that over 3 Billion (yes Capital B) live on less than $2.50 a day. 80% of the world population lives on less than $10 a day. So an American earning minimum wage and working for 2 hours a day makes more than 80% of the world population. Of course, that does not make it right - but to claim that Americans earning minimum wage can be compared to Migrant Workers in Quatar who are truly enslaved is a bit of a stretch 52 MINUTES AGO REPLY FAVE SHARE MORE 7 PEOPLE IN THE CONVERSATION Read Conversation → Nick Agitator (nicesith) 13 9 Fans World Cup, Olympics, theyre all about the bottom line. No freakin reason why Qatar should host sporting events. As a soccer fan, i can tell you, Qatar is horrible at soccer, so for them to host the world cup is an absolute joke! 21 MAR 9:47 PM REPLY FAVE SHARE MORE T.J. Y. (MR818) 3 102 Fans Besides the quality of their team, the weather alone makes Qatar one of the worst places to host the World Cup. 21 MAR 10:05 PM REPLY FAVE SHARE MORE 6 PEOPLE IN THE CONVERSATION Read Conversation → Kenneth K. (OscarthePug) 18 SUPER USER·534 Fans Another disgusting example of how monarchies and plutocracies practice slavery to increase the wealth of the few without any concern for the lives and safety of the laborers and the world community stands by and does nothing. All sponsors of these inhumane and illegal practices should be boycotted by consumers. The World Cup should be cancelled in Qatar and that government should be placed on the terrorist watch list. 21 MAR 9:58 PM REPLY FAVE SHARE MORE Cameron Glenn (Cameron_Glenn) 15 SUPER USER·72 Fans FIFA is responsible for accepting the bribes it took to grant Qatar the World Cup. Shameful. 21 MAR 9:56 PM REPLY FAVE SHARE MORE Load 10 more conversations 1-10 of 70x
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 22:25:24 +0000