Nepalese labourer in Qatar sacked for speaking to visiting UN delegation
Doha, Qatar - A Nepalese construction worker in Qatar was ‘sacked’ the day after speaking to a UN delegation visiting the 2022 World Cup host country to examine labour conditions.
The incident is considered serious enough that the UN’s International Labour Organisation (ILO) said it would be on the agenda when its governing body meets in two months to discuss an investigation into allegations of forced labour by Qatar.
The case was raised in a previous meeting of the ILO governing body in March 2017, said Corinne Vargha, director of the body’s international labour standards department.
Vargha said, in the context of a complaint against Doha for non-compliance with two ratified ILO international conventions - namely the Forced Labour Convention and the Labour Inspection Convention.
The incident occurred in March 2016 when a six-strong team from ILO visited a labour camp in Qatar.
As well as losing his job after telling the UN body about unpaid wages and employers illegally holding his passport, the labourer was also handed a one-way ticket home to Nepal by bosses, unions said.
A union said the 29 year old worker never got on the plane, but was subsequently jailed for two weeks due to losing his work sponsor. He was not working on a World Cup project.
The man's case was cleared earlier this year and he opted to stay in Qatar, working for a new employer and earning around 1,600 Qatari rials (US$438) per month. Despite requests there was no immediate comment from the Qatari government.