Human Rights Watch said today that the 2022 World Cup is coming to an end without any pledge from FIFA or the Qatari government to address abuses, including unexplained deaths, that migrant workers endured over the previous 12 years in order to make the tournament possible.
According to News, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, “the World Cup final game coincides with International Migrants Day and Qatar’s National Day, a fitting coincidence given migrant workers’ indispensable role in making the tournament and Qatar’s development possible.” However, “FIFA and Qatar will have chosen to leave behind a legacy of exploitation and shame unless they provide a remedy for the widespread unaddressed abuses suffered by migrants who prepared and delivered the tournament.”
On May 19, 2022, Human Rights Watch demanded of FIFA and Qatari authorities that they provide a remedy for serious abuses that migrant workers have endured since the 2022 World Cup was awarded to Qatar in 2010. Human Rights Watch was joined by a global coalition of human rights organizations, migrant rights groups, labor unions, and fan groups in this demand. “Coming through with a genuine remedy for the abuses the migrant workers who built and delivered this World Cup have endured would be the only way to ensure a better legacy,” the author writes.
This World Cup has been built on injustice, delivered at the cost of abuse and exploitation of low-paid migrant workers, mostly from South Asia and Africa, Human Rights Watch said. This is happening while FIFA and Qatari authorities try to divert attention away from the international community’s scrutiny of their human rights record.
“The least FIFA and Qatari authorities can do now is recognize the contributions of migrant workers on International Migrants Day and pledge to offer redress to everyone who experienced abuse and fell through the cracks.”