A new controversy less than three months from the World Cup. According to Equidem, a British NGO, Qatar expelled dozens of foreign workers who organized a demonstration to demand their unpaid wages, less than three months before the World Cup.
The authorities of Qatar, regularly criticized by international NGOs for the treatment of hundreds of thousands of workers from Asia in particular on the major construction sites of the 2022 World Cup, confirmed the detention of demonstrators but refused to say whether some had been expelled.
Qatar recently arrested at least 60 foreign workers who protested going months without pay and deported some of them just three months before Doha hosts the 2022 FIFA World Cup. https://t.co/u5NRUsw22d
— Equidem.org (@EquidemOrg) August 22, 2022
During a protest on August 14, at least 60 workers – some of whom had not been paid for seven months – blocked traffic outside the Al Bandary company in Doha, Equidem, a consultancy organization, said in a statement. specialist in human rights and labor rights based in London.
“We spoke to protesting workers and one who was deported to Nepal. We confirmed he had returned home, and others from Nepal, Bangladesh, India , Egypt and the Philippines were also expelled”said the executive director of Equidem, Mustafa Qadri.
The government of Qatar said on Sunday that“a number of protesters had been arrested for violating public safety laws”. “A minority of people who have not protested peacefully and acted in violation of public safety laws face deportation by court order”he added without giving details on the number of workers affected.
The Ministry of Labor said for its part that it paid the salaries of Al Bandary workers, without further details. He added that “measurements” had been taken against the company, which was already under investigation for non-payment of wages.