日韩精品久久一区二区三区_亚洲色图p_亚洲综合在线最大成人_国产中出在线观看_日韩免费_亚洲综合在线一区

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
Sports
Home / Sports / Soccer

Grueling days but little gains for Qatar World Cup workers

China Daily | Updated: 2018-11-26 09:48
Share
Share - WeChat
Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend a handover ceremony for the 2022 World Cup at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on July 15, 2018. [Photo/Agencies]

DOHA - Stonemasons Ojor and Raju take their lunch break sitting on a pavement near the smart central Doha complex they have helped build as Qatar prepares to host the 2022 World Cup in exactly four years' time.

"I made a mistake coming here," said Ojor, 22, from Nepal. "I took so much money from the bank (to pay recruitment fees), I don't have anything in my hand."

Both men have been working on the project for the past three years and earn the minimum monthly wage of 750 Qatari riyals ($205).

Raju, a 39-year-old Bangladeshi dressed in the blue overalls that have become ubiquitous in the gas-rich emirate, smiles gently as he talks about his contract finishing in a few months.

"I will never come back again," he said.

Ever since 2010 when then-FIFA boss Sepp Blatter revealed Qatar would host the 2022 World Cup - to almost global shock - the country has faced unprecedented scrutiny.

Criticism and reform

Much of that has focused on the plight of huge numbers of migrant laborers, mostly from Asia, who have swollen Qatar's population from 1.63 million at the time of Blatter's announcement to today's record 2.74 million.

Trade unions, human rights groups and recently the United Nations' International Labour Organization (ILO) have joined forces to challenge Qatar over its derided "kafala" system, which requires all unskilled laborers to have an in-country sponsor.

An international row has rumbled over the number of people killed - more than 1,200 according to one union's estimate - on construction projects.

That claim has been vigorously denied by the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, Qatar's World Cup organizing body.

But Doha has been forced into reforms including a minimum wage, salary protection and the partial abolition of the exit visa, under which workers needed a boss' permission to leave the country.

The ILO has called the move a "significant step".

More than 12,000 workers employed directly on World Cup projects are expected to share reimbursements of 52 million riyals ($14 million) for being forced to pay illegal recruitment fees to come to Qatar, says the Supreme Committee.

Evidence of Qatar's transformation, fueled by vast gas revenues, is everywhere: stadiums, roads, railways, hotels, malls, bridges and the office and residential complex where Ojor and Raju work.

'We won't see matches'

However, the World Cup, which kicks off on Nov 21, 2022, still feels a long way away for the stonemasons and their colleagues, some of whom wear the shirts of European teams such as Chelsea under their overalls.

"The expectation was that a World Cup would give me good job security," said Mukesh, a 23-year-old laborer from Nepal.

"But we have been told that by 2021 they will remove all the laborers from here."

He works 10 hours a day, earning three riyals (82 cents) extra per hour for overtime, and says he has no regrets about being in the Gulf.

"We were doing nothing at home and we are earning here," he says.

A soccer fan, he wants to watch his hero Cristiano Ronaldo in 2022 and support Portugal.

"But I don't think it is possible for any workers to see matches," he said smiling.

Workers complain about low wages, delays in being paid and the high cost of living. Almost all the workers asked by AFP say they had not heard about the international lobbying on their behalf.

But Prince, a safety officer from Nigeria, found out about the safety campaigns via You-Tube.

"I want to save to go to the US," said the 31-year-old. "I don't like the life I am living here, I do the same thing every day, it is hard work, there are no parties or anything. We are not allowed to do anything here."

Those who have been in Qatar for longer periods say their conditions have hardly changed.

Agence France-Presse

 

 

Most Popular

Highlights

What's Hot
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 老司机福利在线视频 | 特色特色大片在线 | 波多野结衣三级在线 | 91短视频黄 | 日本免费观看官网 | 成人国产精品免费 | 久久精热 | 成人国产精品一区二区毛片在线 | 亚洲热线99精品视频 | 亚洲夜夜爽 | 国产精品自在线 | 日本黄色网战 | 欧美成在线视频 | 色屁屁www影院免费观看视频 | 九热| 国产成人综合95精品视频免费 | 欧美亚洲一区二区三区在线 | 最新国产视频 | 亚洲国产日韩欧美综合久久 | www.国产视频 | 成人黄页在线观看 | 亚洲一区色| 成人在线免费视频播放 | 国产一级影视 | 91精品亚洲 | 久久国产欧美日韩精品 | 日本妇人成熟A片一区-老狼 | 国产中文字幕在线 | 精品不卡| 激情国产视频 | 天天摸天天爽视频69视频 | 国产精品资源在线观看网站 | 欧美精品一区在线 | 国产99精品| 久草福利在线视频 | 久久久久99 | 亚洲久草 | 丰满岳妇乱一区二区三区 | 午夜小视频免费 | 日本免费不卡在线一区二区三区 | 91久久精品一区二区二区 |