'Business as usual' for World Cup workers in Qatar

“It's a world-wide Pandemic but 'business as usual' for World Cup workers in Qatar”

Several western countries have exposed the horrendous conditions in the Gulf in an effort to cause action or reaction, but still it continues.

Dr. Bill Pomfret of Safety Projects International Inc. has been an advocate for the migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and the Philippines who are treated like slaves in the Gulf, he still receives requests for help, while the world is practicing social distancing, those Construction workers in Qatar carry on as usual despite the world alert of the coronavirus outbreak. 

Migrant labourers building the soccer stadiums and infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup, to be held in Qatar are still being sent to work on crowded construction sites, and sleeping 10 to a room, despite a government order outlawing “all forms of gatherings” because of the coronavirus pandemic. With less than 1,000 days to go until the world cup tournament kicks off, workers told Pomfret it was “business as usual” as construction continued at a relentless pace.

Every day buses packed full of labourers can be seen heading to work, while workers inform Dr. Pomfret they continue to endure 12 hour shifts with only limited health checks in place, while trying to practice basic hygiene is impossible in Qatar, where workers live in crowded labour camps, sharing dormitories, usually with eight to 10 others, and are transported to work in company buses crammed with up to 60 people.

While working in Qatar Dr. Pomfret was frequently contacted by these low-wage migrant workers who are particularly vulnerable, many had not been paid for months, so Pomfret made representation on their behalf to the main employer, who would insure contractors paid their workers, Pomfret even wrote to FIFA, workers believe they have no choice but to show up, compelled both by their employers and the urgent need to earn money for their families back home.                      .

Last week, the Qatari authorities announced a “ban on all forms of gatherings … including but not limited to the Corniche, public parks, beaches and social gatherings”, but despite an almost total shutdown of gyms, cinemas, shopping malls and banks, the ruling appears not to apply to construction workers and others in the private sector.

Social Distancing is Impossible in the camps, especially at meal times, Opposite a new stadium is taking shape, preparing for the 2020 world cup

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Notices on the government’s social media sites urging people to avoid public spaces and gatherings provoked an angry response, with one user writing: “How can construction workers maintain social distancing? No one cares about their safety                    Do you think they don’t want to live. Do employers think we don’t want to see our families?” yet another wrote that he was on the site for ten hours a day, adding: “We are not robots. We are not immune to the virus it is not possible to wash properly on site.”

Migrant workers in Qatar, and across the Gulf, are not allowed to change jobs without their employer’s permission, a system some rights groups have described as a form of modern slavery. Many migrant workers pay large recruitment fees, some as high as $4,000, to secure jobs in Qatar. Many find their salaries are less than they were promised. Low pay and late pay are commonplace, but workers are reluctant to complain about conditions for fear they will lose their jobs.                                                                                                                                           “It is hard for employees in any context to refuse to go to work, but in systems like Qatar, where employers have extreme levels of control over workers, Dr. Pomfret has become an expert on migrant workers in the Gulf, he has visited dozens of camps, some being smuggled in, he has presented several lectures, wrote dozens of articles and even a book on the plight of these workers.                                                                                                                 

Several western countries have exposed the horrendous conditions in the Gulf in an effort to cause action or reaction, but still it continues.

The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Qatar has now topped 500, with the vast majority migrant workers. The figure is the third highest in the Gulf, after Iran and Saudi Arabia, this is just another risk for migrant workers, the working conditions are terrible says Pomfret, they are expected to climb scaffolds like monkeys, with no proper hand rails or toeboards, they are not shown any respect by locals, this is modern slavery.