Amnesty International has issued another damming report on the treatment of migrant workers who are building the infrastructure and stadiums in preparation for the 2020 World Cup in Qatar.

The human rights group said more than 80 migrant labourers working on a skyscraper project in Doha were not paid for nearly a year and are facing serious food shortages.

Local contractor Lee Trading & Contracting (LTC) owed the workers some QR1.5m ($412,000) for the work finished in October, Amnesty said.

The group has been working on floors 38 and 39 of Doha’s Al-Bidda Tower, known as ‘Qatar’s Home of Football’ because a number of football-related organisations have offices there.

“They have not been paid for nearly a year and can’t even buy food to sustain themselves on a day-to-day basis. They also can’t afford to send money back home to their families or to pay off debts,” said Salil Shetty, secretary general of Amnesty International.

The workers had filed a law suit against LTC in Doha’s Labour Court, but they were required to pay QR600 each for their cases to proceed. Under Qatari law, they should have been exempted from paying the fee, Amnesty said.

Shetty asked the Qatari authorities to mediate in the workers’ case, saying it would “signal that the government really means what it says about protecting workers’ rights.”

In November, Amnesty issued a report claiming migrant workers are subject to a range of abuses, including non-payment of wages, harsh and dangerous working conditions, and squalid accommodation.

The Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee responded to the report by saying companies working on construction projects in preparation for the World Cup will be “transparently and robustly” monitored through a three-tier compliance and auditing structure.

The Qatari government will also publish an official report in the next few weeks in response to allegations in The Guardian in September that Nepalese labourers were dying at a rate of one a day as they worked in searing heat on Qatar’s World Cup infrastructure schemes.  

Qatar hired international law firm DLA Piper to conduct an independent investigation into claims that serious human rights abuses were taking place on construction sites as the country gears up to host the football tournament.

However, the selection of DLA Piper as investigator has been questioned in the international community, as the law firm also acts as a lobbyist for Al-Jazeera, the Qatari-owned broadcaster.