“Not the slightest individual intervention in the media or collective request evoking the question of human rights in this country”, deplores the NGO.
Article written by
Posted
Reading time : 1 min.
Amnesty International will support the Denmark football team against France on Sunday September 25, accusing the Blues of not having taken a stand in favor of migrant workers in Qatar, host country of the next World Cup.
“Dear Blues, on Sunday you will face the Denmark team, in a match that looks like a dress rehearsal for the Men’s Football World Cup. But for us, at Amnesty International France, the Danish team is the big favorite to win the commitment challenge”writes the NGO in an open letter to French internationals released on Friday.
“On May 19, 2022, we published an open letter addressed to the France team to encourage them to speak out publicly in favor of migrant workers in Qatar. Request remained a dead letter”regrets Amnesty International.
“Didier Deschamps, your coach, whom we had also contacted, had however announced that same day at a press conference that you were free to speak your mind, and that he would not oppose the questioning of players towards Qatar or the French Federation”recalls the NGO. “You have decided to remain silent.”
“Not the slightest individual intervention in the media or collective demand evoking the question of human rights in this country. Deafening silence from your team in the face of the thousands of migrant workers who died on Qatari construction sites, and the thousands of others subjected to forced labor”deplores Amnesty, which stresses on the contrary that “The Danish team’s sponsors have decided to remove their logos from the players’ training shirts and replace them with a message supporting respect for human rights in Qatar”.
The question of the rights of migrant workers in Qatar has been regularly raised by NGOs since the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to the rich Gulf gas state in 2010.