Qatar to publish report on claims of migrant worker abuses

16 December 2013

Report prepared by DLA Piper to be released in the next few weeks

The Qatari government will publish an official report in the next few weeks on migrant worker abuses at sites where it is building stadiums and infrastructure for football’s 2022 Fifa World Cup, the London-based Guardian newspaper has reported.

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.

The review was instigated in response to allegations in The Guardian in September that Nepalese labourers were dying at the rate of one a day as they worked in searing heat on Qatar’s World Cup infrastructure schemes.

In early October, Ali Ahmed al-Kholeifi, international affairs director at Qatar’s labour ministry, announced DLA Piper had been asked “to undertake an independent review of the allegations and provide a report on their veracity to the ministry”.

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.

The issue of workers’ rights abuses in Qatar gained further urgency last month, following an Amnesty International report claiming migrant workers are often subject to 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 responsibility for the welfare of workers is shared by all parties involved in the chain of contracting, including the government of Qatar, the governments of sending countries, recruitment agencies and the companies that utilise them,” the committee said.

Early works will begin in January on Al-Wakrah stadium, the first of six stadiums already in the latter stages of the design process.

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