World Cup stadiums workers to be refunded recruitment fee by Qatar

Moves by Qatar to pay back the recruitment fees for 30,000 migrant workers building its World Cup stadiums have been welcomed by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

By the end of March more than 5500 people from across South Asia, a third of the workforce, will be reimbursed money they paid to middlemen who hired them to work in the tiny Gulf state.

The Doha government is negotiating with its contractors in the hope that the rest of the construction workers, expected to reach 30,000 by 2019.

The ITUC described the move as ‘a positive step’ towards getting rid of a hated system which forces many vulnerable workers into debt bondage.

Recruitment fees have become a thorny issue for Qatar and dealing with it is part of the Supreme Committee’s drive to improve the tiny Gulf state’s record on human rights.

Every year millions of workers are approached across South Asia by a range of recruiters, agents or brokers moving labour around the world to satisfy global demand. But many who set off in the hope of earning their fortune end up in debt bondage because the fees are so huge they have to forfeit their salaries when they start work just to pay them off.

Now, as part of plans by Qatar to end the abuse, contractors will pay workers back the money over the period of their employment. The amount they get will depend on their country of origin as figures vary.

According to the International Labour Organisation a migrant worker living in India will on average have to pay Sh116,552 ($1149) to the person recruiting him to go to Qatar. In Nepal it is Sh106,945 ($1054) and in The Phillippines a worker pays Sh48,705 ($480).

Amnesty International investigators discovered some workers in Nepal were paying Sh144,123 ($1420) for work in the Gulf region.

Rosey Hurst, Head of Impactt, an ethical trade consultancy which has just completed a 56-page report on worker welfare in Qatar, said: ‘In the source countries there is still this strong narrative that the streets are paved with gold in other countries. People feel that but it often costs much more to get there than they think.

‘The recruitment fee is like a levy according to nationalities. You might have a principal recruiter in Dhaka, Bangladesh, who will have stringers going back into villages and communities.

Ms Hurst said changes were being rolled out by Qatar’s Supreme Committee, which is charged with delivering the World Cup, including things like the number of hours worked and the introduction of a minimum wage.

She added: ‘We need to get a flow of money to start going back to these people. All workers care about is: Am I getting enough money? Am I getting respected at home and here? Is this job providing me with a leg-up for my family?’

She said Qatar had chosen the route of transparency over its handling of migrant workers because ‘the eyes of the world are upon it’ and it wanted to compete globally in human rights issues.

Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, said: ‘Recruitment fees are a major problem for migrant workers in many countries, including Qatar.

‘This is a positive step, which should be rapidly extended to all workers as part of the ongoing labour reforms in Qatar.’