Here is a look at the rights issues of migrant workers in Qatar, which is hosting the 2022 World Cup from November 20-December 20. 18:
What is Qatar’s record on migrant workers’ rights?
* Qatar, where most of its 2.9 million population are foreigners, has faced intense criticism from human rights groups for its treatment of migrant workers.
* A 48-page report by Amnesty, Reality Check 2021, said despite labor reforms in 2014, practices such as withholding wages and charging employees to change jobs were still prevalent.
* Qatar’s government said its labor system was still a work in progress but denied reports that thousands of migrant workers are being trapped and exploited in the 2022 World Cup host country.
How many migrant workers have died in Qatar?
* Britain’s Guardian reported last year that at least 6,500 migrant workers – many of them working on World Cup projects – had died in Qatar as it hosted the World Cup, according to the paper’s count from official records. The right to stage was won.
* In response, Qatar said the number of deaths was proportionate to the size of the migrant workforce, and included many non-manual workers, adding that every life lost was a tragedy.
* Max Tunnen, head of the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) Qatar office, cautioned that figures on Qatari worker deaths are often reported without necessary specifics.
* “(Parent’s) number includes all deaths in the migrant population … without discriminating between migrant workers and the general migrant population, let alone fatalities that resulted from occupational injuries,” the ILO said.