Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are leading a campaign to obtain compensation for migrant victims of “abuse” (deaths, injuries, unpaid wages and illegal recruitment fees) by world football governing body FIFA , and the host country of the Mondial-2022, which begins on November 20.
But Qatar has decided to reject the calls of these NGOs for the creation of a compensation fund for migrants killed or injured on the construction sites of the Football World Cup in this rich Gulf country.
“Communication stunt”
In an exclusive interview granted on Tuesday, Ali ben Samikh Al-Marri described these calls as a “communication coup”.
“Each death is a tragedy (but) there are no criteria for establishing this fund” of compensation, advances the minister. “Where are the victims? do you have the names?” he asks.
The minister, on the other hand, stressed that his country had set up a compensation fund in 2018 for workers who do not receive their wages, putting forward the figure of 320 million euros paid in 2022 alone.
“Misleading claims”
Fifa should reserve a minimum amount of around 420 million euros (the total amount paid to teams participating in the World Cup, editor’s note) in order to provide reparations to the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who suffered human rights violations in Qatar during preparations for the 2022 World Cup, Amnesty International wrote in a report released in May.
Mr. Marri claimed on Wednesday that such a compensation fund was not feasible. FIFA, for its part, had reported in mid-October of an “ongoing dialogue” for measures in favor of these migrants.
As criticism intensifies ahead of the event, organizations and countries are trying to “discredit Qatar with deliberately misleading claims”, Mr Marri said. According to him, some foreign politicians make his country “an arena to solve their own political problems”.
“In advance”
Mr. Marri deplored “attacks” even though his country has undertaken many reforms according to him.
And to enumerate: workers can now change jobs (which 420,000 have done, according to him); leave the country without their employer’s permission; a minimum monthly wage of 1,000 riyals (275 euros) has been introduced and working hours in extreme heat conditions are limited.
While the International Labor Organization (ILO) reiterated on Tuesday that the workers’ “main complaint” was over unpaid wages, Mr Marri said his ministry was “focused” on the issue.
According to him, business owners who failed to comply with their legal obligations had to pay “heavy fines” and some of them were even imprisoned.