Since before the first whistle of the 2022 Soccer World Cup blew in Qatar, the small country, located in the middle of the desert in the Persian Gulfhas been at the center of the controversy over the human rights situationcorruption and the operation of politics there.
In 2010, Qatar got the necessary votes to host this year’s World Cup. It prevailed over the United States, South Korea, Japan and Australia. Almost nothing was known about the country chosen to host one of the most important sporting events.
(Read: This is how women, men and tourists in Qatar are forced to dress).
The excitement over the victory faded as construction of the infrastructure required by Fifa progressed and other controversies followed. The numerous deaths during construction, the high carbon footprint These adaptations left behind, the suspicions of buying votes to win the World Cup and the rights conditions for women and the LGBTIQ+ population have engulfed the 2022 edition of the biggest football festival.
This event is estimated to have cost Qatar more than US$200 billion, the most expensive in history. But the expenses were not only material. There is talk of 6,500 dead immigrant workers due to accidents at work in the construction of stadiums.
This country, with an extension of 11,627 square meters, an area of the same extension as Jamaica, enjoys incalculable wealth accumulated by the exploitation of its oil and gas fields, one of the largest in the world. Qatar’s gross domestic product is estimated to be $179.6 trillion and per capita income is the fourth highest in the world at $113,675, behind Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Singapore and Ireland.
This nation, of almost three million inhabitants, of which only 11 percent are locals, prides itself on being one of those with the highest quality of life and the highest human development index in the world (0.855 on a scale of 0 to 1). That was achieved in little more than fifty years since its founding as a country, after gaining independence from the United Kingdom.
From protectorate to country
From the beginning of the 20th century until 1971 it was a Bedouin settlement (belonging to a nomadic Arab people) that held the figure of protectorate of the British Empire, to defend itself against the hostilities of other tribal groups and the Ottoman Empire, which had invaded it at late nineteenth century.
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Qataris pride themselves on their tolerance of the cultures and beliefs of others. On the state of the country’s large immigrant community, the ruling emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, argues that “In Qatar they find security and a decent livelihood.”
Traditions of its nomadic past and centuries-old practices, from handwoven goods to falconry, are still preserved. Nevertheless, the country’s population is now urban and coastal, mostly conglomerated in Dohathe capital.
We do not understand why our country is getting such a bad press, when what we have wanted is to offer the best of ourselves to the world”, Fahad al Hattab
The transformation has been abysmal. of a sleepy fishing and pearling port to a futuristic metropoliswith skyscrapers and immaculate avenues, with eight stadiums with the most modern architectural techniques.
For the comfort of the players and the fans, air conditioning systems were installed to maintain the internal temperature. Outside the complexes the heat rises to 30 degrees, being this time of ‘cold’ in the region. From June to August, thermometers can reach 50 degrees.
“The Soccer Cup is a dream come true that makes all of us in Qatar proud and it’s frustrating that it’s becoming so politicized. We do not understand why our country is receiving such bad press, when what we have wanted is to offer the best of ourselves to the world,” Fahad al Hattab, a Qatari who has experienced the transformation of his country’s landscape in recent years, told EL TIEMPO. Two decades.
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Despite the modernity that is breathed in its streets and in its ultralight metro system that crosses the capital, it has been difficult for the Qatari authorities to catch up in other areas, like the labor system.
The immigration system
In terms of migration, Qatar’s laws are very similar to those of other countries in the region such as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, where visas depend on employer sponsorship and respond to a strict hierarchy by nationality in relation to the type of work that you want to do.
Permits for senior management and management positions are only granted to individuals with US, Canadian, or Western European passports; Latin Americans are given residence to work in areas of administration or middle management, including doctors, engineers, teachers; and migrants from countries like India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka are allowed only construction work, domestic services, and so on.
Apart from the ranking, The problem is added that the Government gave contractors an open letter to set the conditions of migrant workers.
They tell the State that they will pay US$1,200 to each worker. But the reality is that unscrupulous employers only hand out wages of $300.
“They tell the State that they will pay US$1,200 to each worker. But the reality is that unscrupulous employers, who tend to also be from South Asian countries, they only deliver salaries of US$300 per employee. And although they are obliged to provide adequate housing, they end up being accommodated in barracks in the middle of the desert in unsanitary conditions and with insufficient food. In addition, they withhold their passports and force them to work hours of up to 16 hours a day,” explained Emmanuel Rossini, an Italian businessman who has lived in Doha for ten years.
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In his view, this explains why Qatar holds the record for average cases (12) of migrant workers South Asians who have died every week since December 2010.
Data from India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka revealed that there were 5,927 deaths of migrant workers of those nationalities in Qatar in the period 2011-2020. Separately, the Pakistani embassy recorded another 824 deaths of Pakistani workers in the same period. The cause of most of these deaths was heart problems associated with high temperatures and long hours.
In response to international complaints, including those from the World Labor Organization (ILO) and Amnesty International, the Government introduced, in 2020, changes in the labor system. However, in the past he had refused to do so. Even as he had been advised by legal consultants to carry out a comprehensive review of the high levels of reported cardiac deaths and unexplained “sudden deaths” among migrant construction workers.
This meant that the families of the victims were denied the compensation to which they were entitled for work-related death.
(You may be interested: Kasia from Qatar: tragic end of a princess who said she lived in a “golden cage”).
“Qatar employers are out of control, using legal loopholes to overcome the new laws, and Qatar has the responsibility to control them”, says the ILO report.
According to the organization of work, “much of this World Cup has been built on the backs of people that not only have they earned very little, but the system has made them poorer”. From there, it is explained that a large number of soccer fans are debating between boycotting or enjoying the so-called ‘beautiful game’.
Women and LGBTQ+
Another of the issues criticized during the World Cup are the conditions of stay and the rights situation of women and the LGBTIQ+ population. The country has an application so that men can veto travel permits, driver’s licenses and other government services to single women under 25 years of age.
That app has been downloaded more than a million times and clearly offers insight into the old Bedouin tradition of see women as a “precious” added value of society, and therefore must be protected. That fine line from protection to control leaves them in a vulnerable position in Qatari society.
(Read more: Qatar 2022: controversy over ‘fake fans’ cheering for the start of the championship).
The Government and a growing number of Qatari women preach gender equality, gender rights and female empowerment. But the reality is that there is nowhere to go to complain and no control over how women are treated. Families are in control of girls in every possible way.
This is understandable because Qatar adheres to the strict sect of Salafism, often called Wahhabism, which is also prevalent in Saudi Arabia. The extreme patriarchal nature of Wahhabism means that everything a woman does is controlled.: Your honor and the reputation of your family is paramount. This interpretation of Islam has serious consequences for women. Human Rights Watch calls it “profound discrimination.”
Men can marry up to four wives, but they can divorce anyone without even informing her about it. On the other hand, for women it is limited, even if the marriage is abusive.
Women are not guardians of their own children. They do not have the authority to make decisions about their schools, finances, or medical treatment. A woman who reports rape can be sent to prison. Neither rape nor domestic violence is illegal.
This is what not only the residents of Qatar face, but the tourists who will be at the Soccer World Cup. Women’s rights activists have warned that fans traveling to Qatar may face persecution if they dare to report sexual assault, seek sexual health care or demand privacy when not married.
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MARIA VICTORIA CRISTANCHO
Special for EL TIEMPO
London
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