DOHA —
Qatar has rejected calls for a compensation fund for migrant workers killed or
injured during World Cup preparations, with the country’s labor minister
calling it a “publicity stunt”.
اضافة اعلان
Labor Minister Ali
bin Samikh Al-Marri told AFP that Qatar is already handing out hundreds of
millions of dollars in unpaid wages and accused the Gulf state’s critics of
“racism”.
Marri said Qatar
already has a fund to deal with worker deaths and injuries.
“This call for a
duplicative
FIFA-led compensation campaign is a publicity stunt,” he said in an
exclusive interview. “Our door is open. We have dealt with and resolved a lot
of cases.”
Amnesty
International and
Human Rights Watch have led demands for FIFA and Qatar to
create a fund for workers matching the $440 million World Cup prize money.
Human rights groups
accuse Qatar of under-reporting deaths. The government strongly disputes
reports that thousands have died in construction site accidents or from
heat-related illnesses in the country’s searing summer temperatures.
FIFA has said there
is “ongoing dialogue” about the fund, but in the government’s first public
comment, Marri said the proposal was unworkable.
“Every death is a
tragedy,” Marri said on Sunday, adding: “There is no criteria to establish
these funds.
“Where are the
victims, do you have names of the victims, how can you get these numbers?” he
asked.
Some international
trade union leaders have also said a new fund would be too complicated to set
up and manage.
Qatar started a
Workers’ Support and Insurance Fund in 2018 to help workers who have not been
paid, which the minister said had disbursed $320 million this year alone.
“If there is a
person entitled to compensation who has not received it, they should come
forward and we will help them,” he said, adding that Qatar was ready to look at
cases from more than a decade ago.
‘Racist motivations’
Qatar has faced a barrage of criticism since it was named as a surprise
World Cup host in 2010, and attacks have increased this year over migrant
workers and women’s rights.
Last month, Qatar’s
emir said the country was facing an “unprecedented campaign” of criticism ahead
of the November 20 kick-off.
Marri said detractors
had ignored reforms implemented since 2017 with the help of the
International Labor Organization (ILO), a UN agency.
Other countries and
groups have used “false information” and “rumors” to “discredit Qatar with
deliberately misleading claims”, he said.
Marri added that
some foreign politicians deployed “double standards” and used Qatar “as an
arena to solve their own political problems”. The minister did not give an
example, but Qatar last week summoned the German ambassador over comments made
by the country’s interior minister.
Some critics also
acted through “racism”, Marri claimed. “They don’t want to allow a small
country, an Arab country, an Islamic country, to organize the World Cup,” he
said. “They know very well about the reforms that have been made, but they
don’t acknowledge it because they have racist motivations.”
The “Kafala”
employment system that opponents said was near slavery has been virtually
dismantled in Qatar. Workers can now change jobs and leave the country without
their employer’s permission.
The government has
established a minimum wage of 1,000 riyals ($275) a month, passed laws against
trafficking, and limited the hours that can be worked in extreme heat.
‘People still attack
us’
Marri said 420,000 workers have switched jobs since the laws were passed
and $320 million has been paid out this year alone to workers who had lost
wages.
“After all this
effort, all these reforms, people still attack us,” he said.
The ILO this week
said unpaid wages were workers’ biggest complaint, and that Qatar’s main
challenge is to apply its new laws. Marri said his ministry was “focused” on
the task.
“If a salary
payment is delayed for one month, we will pay from the fund and take action,”
he said, adding that owners of blacklisted companies had been fined and jailed.
Forty-two
recruiting agencies accused of exploitation have been closed, the tribunals
hearing complaints have increased from three to five, and extra labor
inspections have been ordered on hotels and other industries during the World
Cup.
Marri said the
World Cup has only “sped up” the reforms. “We will reconfirm our commitments
and continue our reforms because we want to continually improve our own
country.”
The minister said
he was discussing making the ILO’s office in Doha permanent, and that Qatar
wants to host an annual dialogue on protecting migrant workers.
“We lead the region now for migrant reforms,” Al-Marri said.
“We have good relations with our neighbors, and we can exchange best
practices.”
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