Complaint filed against Qatar to UN for inhumane working conditions

CAIRO – 28 November 2017: International Equity Committee for Workers’ Victims of 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar filed a complaint against Qatar on Monday to the United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights to put an end to the violations committed against workers in Qatar, according to Saudi Newspaper Okaz.

Led by the head of the Arab Organization for Human Rights in UK, Abdulrahman Nofal Reyes, the committee has delivered a report entitled “Qatar does not respect the rights of Doha-based workers in the 2022 World Cup’s related venues” to the United Nations Office at Geneva on Monday.

The report has focused on the violations committed by Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup and against workers in recent years to construct the venues of 2022 World Cup.

Nofal in the report has described the 2022 World Cup as a “world cup of shame”, referring to the slave treatment received by workers in Qatar and the death toll that has been increased among them. He added that Qatar does not commit to the international standards in protecting workers, calling for withdrawing the tournament from Qatar.

International Human Rights organizations and committees announced the formation of an International Equity Committee to look into the violations committed against Doha-based workers in the 2022 World Cup’s related venues, according to Emirate-led newspaper Khaleej.

About 800,000 migrant workers in Qatar are involved in construction projects, representing 40 percent of the migrant workers there, according to a HRW report.

The formation of the said committee was announced at the meeting of the seventh session of the seven state members of the United Nations Convention against corruption, which started last Monday and ends Friday, in the Austrian Capital Vienna.

The organizations involved are the families of victims of the inhumane working conditions they have gone through during their work at the Sports Facilities of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the African Organization for Heritage and Human Rights, the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Europe and Britain, the Arab Network of National Human Rights Institutions and the Gulf League for Rights and Freedoms.

In a statement launched by the founding organizations, they confirmed that the new-formed committee will be entitled with pursuing the violations of the human rights of the workers in Qatar and publicly disseminate the findings of their investigations and studies.