Qatar rejected the International Trade Union Confederation’s latest statement repeating its claim that, based on new data, 7,000 migrant workers were likely to die before the first ball was kicked at the 2022 World Cup.
In a statement issued Sunday evening and carried by the official news agency, the Government Communications Office called the information baseless and another attempt to distort facts.
It stated that no worker had died at tournament facilities after more than fourteen million working hours.
The statement argued that it was unreasonable to attribute all deaths recorded in a country hosting more than a million workers to workplace accidents or working conditions.
It said Qatar was determined to continue meeting the highest standards of working conditions and welcomed comparisons of its progress.
Workers’ annual remittances to their families had ranged from $10 billion to $14 billion over the previous five years, it said, adding that most workers were treated fairly.
The statement reviewed reforms already undertaken to improve workers’ lives and others still being prepared.
At the end of the previous October, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani issued a new law regulating expatriates’ entry, exit, and residence, described in the article as abolishing the sponsorship law, with implementation one year after issuance.
The new law gave foreign workers more freedom than the previous one and improved the exit-permit system.
It was the second law that year intended to improve labor conditions. On February 18, the emir amended the Labor Law to protect wages and ensure workers were paid on time.
The wage-protection amendment required employers to transfer pay into workers’ accounts at financial institutions in Qatar so it could be received by the due date.
International rights organizations had repeatedly criticized the system and called for its abolition.
Qatar had also faced criticism over migrant workers’ living and working conditions, particularly in construction. Doha denied labor abuses and said it would deal firmly with any violations by construction companies, especially those affecting migrant labor.