Qatar World Cup workers’ rights to improve with end of kafala system, claims union

The International Trade Union Confederation claims to have secured the agreement of the government in Qatar to significantly improve the physical and employment situation of two million migrant workers, including ending the kafala system, which the ITUC has described as modern slavery. Human rights abuses such as kafala, by which workers are tied to a single employer, low pay, poor accommodation, labouring in dangerous heat and hundreds of unexplained deaths, have been subjected to intense global scrutiny and criticism since 2010 when Fifa voted for Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup. The government concessions, reported by state media, were announced just before the International Labour Organisation was due to decide this week whether to hold a formal commission of inquiry into the conditions for migrant workers building Qatar’s massive infrastructure programme and 2022 stadiums. Sharan Burrow, the ITUC general secretary, said, following the agreements, she will recommend that formal complaints made against Qatar be withdrawn, meaning there will be no ILO commission of inquiry. Nicholas McGeehan, an expert on migrant workers’ issues in the Gulf, sounded a note of caution, however. “All we have today are promises, and promises have been broken before,” he said. “I feel we need… Read full this story

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