Migrants building a state-of-the-art stadium for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar face abuse and...

Migrants from Bangladesh, India and Nepal who work on the renovation of the emblematic Khalifa stadium and the landscaping of the surrounding sports facilities and green areas, the so-called “Aspire Zone”, are being exploited. Some are subjected to forced labor. They can't change jobs, they can't leave the country, and they often have to wait months to collect their wages. Meanwhile, FIFA, the international football governing body, its sponsors and the construction companies involved are preparing to reap huge financial benefits from the tournament.

We have detected eight forms of exploitation suffered by some workers at the Khalifa stadium and the “Aspire Zone”…

High recruitment commissions

Many migrants seek work in Qatar to escape poverty and unemployment in countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh and India. But, to get a job they must pay high commissions. The workers we spoke to had had to pay sums ranging from US$500 to US$4,300 to unscrupulous contractors in their home countries. Many are in debt, so they fear leaving their jobs when they arrive in Qatar.

"God knows that there are days when I can't go on, everything is too much for me... The only thing that keeps me alive is thinking about my children".

Sakib, a Bangladeshi gardener who took out a loan to pay US$4,000 to a recruitment agent.

Terrible living conditions

Normally, workers endure overcrowding and lack of hygiene and safety in their accommodation. We saw men sleeping in bunk beds in rooms for eight or more people. However, Qatari law and the Worker Protection Regulations allow a maximum of four beds per room and prohibit bed sharing and the use of bunk beds.

Lies about salary

Recruitment agents also make false promises about the salary that workers will receive, and about the kind of job offered. The $300 a month a man from Nepal had been promised he would earn turned out to be just $190 once he started working in Qatar. When the workers explain to the company that they had been promised a higher salary, the company simply turns a deaf ear. This is how Mushfiqur, a gardener at the Aspire Zone, remembers it:

“The manager just said: ‘I don’t care what they told you in Bangladesh . You will receive this salary and nothing more. If you keep protesting I will tell them to cancel your visa and send you back home".

Delays in the payment of wages

Salaries are sometimes not paid for several months. This can have disastrous consequences, as workers are unable to pay for food, send money to their families, or make loan payments associated with hiring. A situation that brings many to the brink of despair.

"My family has become homeless and two of my young children have been taken out of school […] Every day I am stressed, I cannot sleep. It is torture for me".

Prem, a metalworker from Nepal who works at the Khalifa stadium and often suffers from delays in receiving his salary.

Not being able to leave the stadium or camp

Some employers do not issue or renew their workers' residence permits, even though they are required to do so under Qatari law. With these identity documents, workers can prove that they have permission to live and work in Qatar. Without them, they can be jailed or fined. For this reason, some of the men working on the Khalifa stadium construction site are afraid to venture beyond the construction zone or the camp where the workers live.

Not being able to leave the country or change jobs

The employers had confiscated the passports of all the workers we spoke to. In fact, if they want to leave Qatar, they must get an “exit permit” approved by their company. But employers often ignore these requests, or even threaten workers, telling them they can't leave until the contract ends, which could mean another two years.

Be threatened

If workers complain about conditions or ask for help, they are usually intimidated and threatened by their employers. This is how a migrant who worked on the Khalifa stadium construction site told us:

“I went to the company office, I told the manager that I wanted to go home [to my country] because I always received my pay late. He yelled at me: 'Keep working or you will never leave".

Mohammad, who works in the maintenance of green areas in the Aspire Zone, explained:

“The company has my passport. If my funding status changes, they will send me back and I have a huge debt outstanding […] I want my passport back [and] the camp is not good, we sleep eight in a room; they are too many. But I can't complain [because] I would be fired from my job."

Forced labor

One of the companies hiring workers for the Khalifa stadium project subjects its employees to forced labor. Those who refuse to work due to the conditions are threatened with pay deductions, or handed over to the police for expulsion without receiving their due wages.

The manager said:

"These men are giving trouble, they are lazy. Watch them closely. If they don't show up for work or try to escape, report them to the police".

Kamal, a Nepalese metalworker at the Khalifa stadium works