Doha cuts salaries of hundreds of workers in 2022 WC projects

CAIRO - 28 November 2018: Qatar has reduced salaries of hundreds of workers in infrastructure projects established in preparation of the 2022 World Cup which is set to be hosted by the 11,571 square kilometer country, a high-level source told Egypt Today.

The peninsula has cut the workers' salaries despite increasing their working hours, a decision that violates the international labor law and human rights covenants, the source added.

Doha has also placed dozens of workers in its local prisons, according to the source, after they stopped working in protest against the recent procedures taken against them. Moreover, many employees who work on establishing stadiums for the World Cup have only received the wages of one month out of four, and were threatened by the authorities to get arrested in case they claim their delayed rights, according to the source.



The Qatari authorities have also cancelled health insurance for a number of foreign workers, and informed them that treatment should be at their personal expense, the source asserted. On the other hand, some Qatari people supervising these projects have received huge monthly salaries amounting to $50,000 for each of them, the source revealed.

Qatar also canceled the leaves for a number of foreign workers in the infrastructure projects of the stadiums, saying that the cost of the leaves would be borne by the workers, the source said, adding that the authorities rejected to give the workers their passports, and banned them from travelling back home until the work is finished.

Acts of torture have been also carried out against workers of different nationalities, including Indian and Bangladeshi workers, the source claimed.

There are workers who have no homes or rest houses, the source referred, adding that these workers were deported to camps and tents in desert areas, which have no facilities, with the purpose of saving Qatari money.

Concerning women's rights, the source said that many violations have been carried out against women, where they have been hit and insulted in the World Cup projects. He affirmed that many international reports revealed the involvement of Qatar in violations against foreign workers on its soil.

Qatar's foreign workers

According to Qatar's Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics, there are about 2.6 million people inhabiting the Qatari territory. Foreign workers represent about 88 percent of the population, according to some reports.

The Indian community is the largest in Qatar with about 691,000 Indians inhabiting the peninsula, according to an unofficial 2017 report published by Priya Dsouza Communications specialized in the Qatari affairs.Egyptians represent 10.8 percent of the total population, with around 200,000 Egyptians inhabiting the Qatari territory making it the sixth largest community in the small peninsula, according to the report.

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Additional reporting by Amr Mohamed Kandil