2022 World Cup: Qatar Denies Amnesty International’s Criticism on Labour Abuse

Qatar on Wednesday, denied claims by Amnesty International that authorities in the Peninsular Arabian country have done almost nothing effective to end chronic labor exploitation.

This is coming five years after the Gulf country won the rights to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

In response to the treatment of foreign labourers, Qatar’s Government Communications Office, released a statement saying that the report by Amnesty International was inaccurate, lacking context and wrong.

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The statement also claimed that Amnesty’s report did not compare Qatar’s developments to other countries that have a similar majority-expat population.

The statement read: “The Government feels that Amnesty’s reporting lacks context, as it does not benchmark labor conditions in Qatar against labor conditions in other countries facing similar challenges.

“Qatar fully intends to meet the highest standards with regard to labor but for reasons that are unclear, Amnesty International has provided no comparative data on labor conditions in other countries employing large numbers of guest workers to meet the demands of rapid growth and development.

“Far from tinkering on the edges of reform, Qatar has made, and will continue to make changes in our laws that will help ensure that the rights of both workers and their employers are respected.”

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Qatari government also maintained it had made a number of significant human rights reforms and that the state is committed to respecting both their labor rights and their human rights, with particular reference to the Wage Protection System, which requires companies to pay employees’ wages directly into bank accounts.

In addition, the secretary-general of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy for Qatar’s 2022 World Cup, Hassan Al Thawadi, said: “Our vision, our legacy continues to develop. The World Cup will go down in history as being an outstanding one.”

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