Qatar blocks Nepalese labourers from attending funerals of relatives
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ByEurosport
Updated 24/05/2015 at 12:14 GMT
The 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar suffered another huge blow to its credibility when it was revealed that Nepalese workers there have been refused the right to fly home for funerals after the recent earthquakes, according to a report in The Observer.
The 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar are in doubt
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More than 8,000 people have died in the recent disaster, but the tournament's stadium builders have apparently denied them the right to fly home despite the requests of the government in Nepal.
It is estimated that 1.5 million people are in the Gulf state working on infrastructure for the tournament with 400,000 of them from Nepal, and the rest from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, reports The Observer.
“After the earthquake of 25 April, we requested all companies in Qatar to give their Nepalese workers special leave and pay for their air fare home," said Nepal's labour miniser Tek Bahadur Gurung in the broadsheet Sunday newspaper.
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Qatar were awarded the 2022 World Cup in December 2010
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"While workers in some sectors of the economy have been given this, those on World Cup construction sites are not being allowed to leave because of the pressure to complete projects on time.
“They have lost relatives and their homes and are enduring very difficult conditions in Qatar. This is adding to their suffering.”
Gurung said the Nepal’s government have attempted to put pressure on FIFA and the tournament's sponsors to act against Qatar.
"Nothing will change for migrant workers until Fifa and its rich sponsors insist on it," he said.
"These are the people who are bringing the World Cup to Qatar. But we are a small, poor country and these powerful organisations are not interested in listening to us.
“We want to work with the Qatari government and bodies like Fifa because our people need the jobs and Nepal needs the money more than ever. Things are very difficult for the Nepalese and other workers in Qatar, but we have to help them and cannot stay silent any longer.”
"Without prompt action, the pledges Qatar made last year are at serious risk of being dismissed as a mere public relations stunt to ensure the Gulf state can cling on to the 2022 World Cup," said Amnesty researcher Mustafa Qadri.
Qatar, host of the 2022 World Cup, is doing little to improve conditions for migrant workers despite promising reform last year, Amnesty International told Reuters on Thursday.
"Without prompt action, the pledges Qatar made last year are at serious risk of being dismissed as a mere public relations stunt to ensure the Gulf state can cling on to the 2022 World Cup," said Amnesty researcher Mustafa Qadri.
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Trade unionists protest outside FIFA over Qatar workers
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"Last year the government made promises to improve migrant labour rights in Qatar, but in practice, there have been no significant advances."
Qatar's Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs said in a statement: "Significant changes have been made over the last year to improve the rights and conditions of expatriate workers."
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