Qatar World Cup 2022: Informal workers at risk of exploitation, US official warns
The US has warned Qatar that it needs to prosecute human traffickers and identify their victims to protect workers at risk of exploitation during the 2022 World Cup.
Uzra Zeya, the US undersecretary of state for civilian security, democracy, and human rights, told Reuters that laws need to be enforced in order to protect those working in Doha's informal economy.
She said the World Cup "presents a challenge in terms of the increased likelihood or possibilities to exploit vulnerable migrant workers and it's all the more important to enforce the laws in place and to see more efforts to prosecute perpetrators of human trafficking."
"This is often a hidden crime and for particularly those in the informal economy... who have less access, let's say, to law enforcement or to other institutions in place of protection," she said.
Zeya also commended labour reforms introduced by Qatar in recent years but acknowledged "challenges" in implementing the new rules.
"If fully implemented, they would really represent Qatar assuming a great leadership role regionally," Zeya said.
Migrant workers treated poorly
Like other nations that have hosted the World Cup tournament, Qatar has come under intense scrutiny from human rights groups over its treatment of migrant workers. It is the first Middle Eastern country to host the world's premier sporting competition.
While Qatar has made "significant efforts" toward combating human trafficking, it does not meet the US government's minimum requirements for the elimination of human trafficking, according to the State Department's 2022 Trafficking in Persons report.
Based on data compiled from government sources, the Guardian reported last year that at least 6,500 migrant workers from South Asian countries had died in Qatar in the decade since it won the right to host the World Cup in 2010.
Qatar has said that the number of deaths among migrant workers in the country is proportionate to the size of the workforce.
In August, Qatar deported dozens of workers who participated in a rare protest for unpaid and delayed wages owed to them by a company that Doha has awarded multi-million dollar contracts.
A government source told MEE in August that some protesters were deported for breaching Qatar's public security laws, without specifying the number.
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