Amnesty International Hunts FIFA: $440 Million Compensation

FIFA negotiated a contract with Qatar on Sep 2010, which made Qatar the hosting nation of the FIFA 2022 (Nov) World Cup, but Qatar is facing intense pressure from Amnesty International and ILO over labor exploitation under Kafala system.

Kafla system: the evil witch of labor exploitation

The term Kafla in Arabic means to guarantee/ to take care. The Kafala system may identify the migrant worker as a ‘guest worker’ but the workers are often treated as a disposable economic commodity at the mercy of their sponsor.

The imbalance in power relations between the kafeel (caretaker) and the migrant worker is very broad. The kafeel has the power to alter the terms of the employment contract and even coerce the worker into unfair working conditions.

The destitute background of the worker compelled them to accept lower wages and poorer living and working conditions than originally promised.

The Kafeel can exert further control by forced confinement, confiscating the workers’ passports, limiting channels of communication, and withholding wages, further the migrant worker deprived of bargaining power and aid, gets exploited.

Most of the victims are unskilled or semi-skilled who get lured by job agents promising good pay and easy work but later get trapped in menial drudgery. They are often forced to work up to 15-hour/day by verbal or physical abuse.

Some laborers say they have been denied access to free drinking water in the desert heat.

“We were working on an empty stomach for 24 hours; 12 hours work and then no food all night, but my manager assaulted me, kicked me out of the labor camp I lived in, and refused to pay me anything when asked for basic needs. I had to beg for food from other workers.”

– Ram Kumar Mahara, (27)

Why is FIFA in the scene

Amnesty International hunts FIFA and Qatar to quell the evil witch - Kafala System — Image Source – Amnesty International

Despite knowledge of workers’ exploitation, FIFA granted the multi-billion-dollar tournament contract to Qatar without imposing any conditions or guarantees to protect migrant workers.

Flaws with the FIFA contract

FIFA negotiated a contract with Qatar on Sep 2010, which made Qatar the hosting nation of the FIFA 2022 (Nov) World Cup, but the contract is intensely dissented by ILO and Amnesty International for the following flaws:-

FIFA never considered the risks for workers were not even considered during the bidding process.
The contract document did not include the word “worker” / “labor”, nor the phrase “human rights.

In one section the health risks of Qatar’s extreme heat were considered for, “players, spectators, officials, and the FIFA family”, but the risks for workers were not mentioned.

FIFA also failed to prevent or mitigate risks of labor abuse in the years following the awarding of the World Cup.

Denial of responsibilities by FIFA

In May 2016, FIFA openly admitted to Amnesty International that it had not raised concerns about how the Local Organizing Committee execute the contract and before 2015 it did not consider the construction of World Cup stadiums to be its responsibility.
In October 2013 the then President of FIFA, Sepp Blatter argued that:

“Workers’ rights will be the responsibility of Qatar and the companies – many of them European companies – who work there. It is not FIFA’s primary responsibility, but we cannot turn a blind eye. Yet it is not a direct intervention from FIFA that can change things”.

Qatar denying responsibility

The kafala system which existed when the World Cup was awarded to Qatar in 2010 remained unchanged until late 2018, following an agreement with the ILO in 2017. But from 2010-2017 a wide range of labor abuses were recorded:-

In June 2012, Human Rights Watch published a report the problematic working condition of migrant workers in the country.
In October 2013, the Guardian newspaper reported that 44 Nepali workers had died in Qatar over two months.
In November 2013, Amnesty International documented widespread labor abuse in the construction sector, including forced labor.
In April 2014, the UN Special Rapporteur on Migrant Rights described the frequent exploitation and sub-substandard living conditions of migrant workers.
In April 2014, the multinational law firm DLA Piper issued a report which highlighted the reforming of the kafala system, preventing delayed salaries and improving access to justice for migrant workers.
In June 2014, worker groups complained about Qatar with the ILO alleging forced labor.
In March 2015, Amnesty International published details of serious human rights abuse by workers building the Khalifa International Stadium.
In September 2017, Human Rights Watch urged the Qatari government to protect outdoor workers from the risks of intense heat and humidity.

The Qatari authorities rejected such accusations, portraying reported abuses as isolated cases of exploitation, and the meager reforms enacted barely scratched the surface of the exploitative system, leaving the basic kafala system intact.

The binding responsibility of FIFA

As a business enterprise, FIFA has a responsibility to respect human rights. This responsibility is laid down in the UN Guiding Principles, as acknowledged in 2016 when FIFA formally adopted the UN Guiding Principles in its statutes.

According to the UN Guiding Principles, FIFA’s responsibility to respect human rights makes it mandatory to:-

Avoid causing or contributing to activities that violate human rights, and
To prevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts that are directly linked to its operations, products, or services by business relationships, even if it has not contributed to those impacts.

The binding responsibility on Qatar

Qatar is a party to various International treaties prohibiting forced labor and other human rights abuses, some of them are:-

International Labor Organization (ILO) Conventions 29, 105, and 189;
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR);
International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR);
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination;
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women;
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and
the Arab Charter on Human Rights.

Efforts by Amnesty International

Amnesty International along with the ILO are constantly tracking both Qatar and FIFA and highlighted how these reforms still did not meet International law and standards.

From one of its investigations, the International organization reveals that a security company was underpaying its guards $89 less than they are legally entitled to for the overtime hours they work. Accounting for the total strength, the company is resisting paying $7,12,000 each month.

Ultimately, the organization compiled a report titled Predictable and Preventable which briefly mentions the challenges, compromise, and the progress made to mitigate human exploitation even beyond the World Cup event.

On 17 May 2022 Amnesty International jointly addressed Gianni Infantino the President of FIFA 2022 and Qatar regarding a remedy for labor abuses behind the 2022 World Cup.

The letter demands FIFA to earmark at least $440 million for compensating thousands of exploited migrant workers in Qatar for the preparation of the 2022 World Cup which is about to commence on 20 Nov 2022.