Kathmandu: The members of the South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE) have condemned the deportation of migrant workers from Egypt, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and the Philippines for taking part in the protest demanding the timely payment of their accrued wages.
“SAAPE condemns the heinous act on part of the Qatari government to arrest and deport the migrant workers,” it said in a press statement. “SAAPE members note that this is one of the deplorable events in a series of incidents of human rights abuses against over two million migrant workers who have contributed their ‘sweat and blood’ to the economy of Qatar, especially in building the ‘world-class stadiums and cities’ for the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup.”
We demand that the Qatari government, respecting the rightful demands of the migrant workers, take back charges against the protesting workers and arrange for timely payment of wages and salaries, provide social security measures along with medical and life insurance, and establish a participative grievance handling mechanism to address the just demands of the migrant workers, reads the press statement.
Saying that the latest case is just one of the incidents showing that the recent labor reforms carried out by the Government of Qatar, with support from the International Labour Organization, are inadequate and incomplete, SAAPE said it was deeply concerned by the lack of response and pressure from the ILO, a United Nations body with a mandate to maintain international labor standards, to enforce upon the principles of fair recruitment, decent working conditions, and the rights of collective bargaining for migrant workers in Qatar to which the Government of Qatar has agreed in several of the ILO conventions.
“We demand that the ILO carry out an independent investigation into the recent case of labor rights violation and come out with a time-bound report,” adds the statement.
SAAPE further said it deeply regrets the silence of Fédération International de Football Association (FIFA) which has clear commitments under its own statutes and responsibilities under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to remedy the human rights abuses to which it has contributed.
“Denouncing the rampant use of forced labor, especially in preparation for the FIFA World Cup 2022, we urge the Qatari authorities and FIFA to immediately compensate workers for the series of human rights violations against them and establish a comprehensive and participative remedy program in close consultation with origin country governments, workers’ representatives and trade unions, and national and international civil society groups,” the statement added.
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