Amnesty’s labour abuse claims ‘simply untrue’

Qatar says significant reforms have been made and more are in the pipeline

Qatar yesterday dismissed claims it has done almost nothing to tackle migrant labour abuse since being awarded the 2022 World Cup exactly five years ago as “simply untrue”.

In a vigorous defence of its treatment of foreign labourers, Doha said an Amnesty International report arguing Qatar should be “shamed” by its lack of reform was inaccurate, lacking context, and wrong.

“We feel that the accusation that Qatar has failed to improve the human rights of its guest workers is simply untrue,” said a Qatari government statement.

“Significant reforms have been made and more are in the pipeline.”

Qatar, it added, was “committed to protecting the workers who are helping us build our nation”.

The Amnesty report was published on Tuesday on the eve of the fifth anniversary of Qatar’s surprise selection to host football’s 2022 World Cup finals.

The human rights group said Doha had done “almost nothing” in that time to improve the treatment of the country’s almost two million foreign workers, many working on tournament projects.

It said that labour abuse was still rife and the limited reforms taken “shamed” the country.

In response, Qatar said it had introduced steps to ensure workers get paid on time, made it illegal for companies to hold workers’ passports, upgraded accommodation and safety standards, and improved “access to justice” for those suffering mistreatment.