Revealed: Qatar's World Cup 'slaves'

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/25/revealed-qatars-world-cup-slaves

by yapcguy • 13 years ago

214 140 13 years ago

jlgreco11• 13 years ago

From the article:

• Evidence of forced labour on a huge World Cup infrastructure project.

• Some Nepalese men have alleged that they have not been paid for months and have had their salaries retained to stop them running away.

• Some workers on other sites say employers routinely confiscate passports and refuse to issue ID cards, in effect reducing them to the status of illegal aliens.

• Some labourers say they have been denied access to free drinking water in the desert heat.

• About 30 Nepalese sought refuge at their embassy in Doha to escape the brutal conditions of their employment.

I have to object to The Guardian's use of scare quotes in the title...

bsullivan014• 13 years ago

I have to object to The Guardian's use of scare quotes in the title.

You need to read more on the subject then. They have a very different definition of human rights in that part of the world. http://www.bing.com/search?q=maid+abuse+arab+countries

jlgreco11• 13 years ago

So did The South.

I don't care what they think, I consider it slavery, and so should everybody. Cultural relativism can go to hell when we are talking about fucking forced labor. I am not going to dampen my language just because they think forced labor is just fine, and neither should The Guardian.

wnevets• 13 years ago

Sounds like modern day slavery to me

jlgreco11• 13 years ago

That is exactly what it is. The author and/or editor should have had a spine and made the headline: "Revealed: Qatar's World Cup slaves"

banachtarski• 13 years ago

I worked in Qatar for several months. It is modern day slavery precisely.

yapcguy5• 13 years ago

This summer, Nepalese workers died at a rate of almost one a day in Qatar, many of them young men who had sudden heart attacks.

It was always a stupid idea to have footballers running around in temperatures of 100-120F, let alone manual laborers toiling over stadiums and roads.

FIFA are now looking to move the World Cup to the winter... except it would clash with the Winter Olympics and the busy schedule of domestic leagues.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20130918/uefa-q...

jlgreco11• 13 years ago

It was always a stupid idea to have footballers running around in temperatures >100F

I assume they could probably get some strong evaporation cooling from the well-hydrated field, but I am not really familiar with that sort of extreme climate.

the_watcher3• 13 years ago

I grew up in the Palm Springs area (summers regularly in the 100-125F range), and played soccer my entire life, through the summer. It's absolutely possible to do it, although it is not fun. The issue is that you have to hydrate completely differently, and to be fair, our substitution rules were different (unlimited subs, and you could be subbed back in), so players who have never played in that environment are at risk. Also, it gave us an extreme home field advantage whenever clubs from the California coast came into town to play.

crazygringo• 13 years ago

I'm not sure it's helpful to call this actual slavery. Actual slavery is when human beings are legally owned by others.

This is not actual slavery, but it is atrocious working conditions and very serious human rights violations. The conditions may approach slave-like conditions, so there's good reason to use the word, but quotation marks are probably accurate. This is journalism, after all, not propaganda. (But, you definitely make a good point.)

jlgreco11• 13 years ago

The distinction is purely academic, and worthless for real-world use. Sex slaves in America or the UK are not legally owned, but they are nevertheless slaves as far as anybody sane-minded is concerned. You would not dream of referring to them as "Sex 'slaves'".

Particularly, The Guardian has not made this distinction in the past, search for "site:theguardian.com sex slaves"

(Further note that one of the methods of coercion being used in Qatar, taking the persons documentation and putting them in an immigration bind, is famous for being used in the sex slave industry)

brudgers• 13 years ago

Chattel slavery requires ownership and is a specific form of slavery which was common in the US. Its manifestation requires slaves to be treated as property by the legal system.

Slavery has other forms, and being held in captivity for reasons other than legal punishment and forced to work generally is considered one of them.

bayesianhorse2• 13 years ago

It might very well be actual slavery. The "recruiters" are probably not employees of the company that commissions the labor, instead they are selling these men to companies who then "rent" them out.

This comes very close to a proprietary relationship, and it's even partly supported by the legal system which helps to keep the workers/slaves in their miserable "employment" relationship.

nols• 13 years ago

I don't think your point is clear here. It seems from comments that people think you think The Guardian is using "slave" incorrectly, while it seems like you object to the use of quotes around the word.

jlgreco11• 13 years ago

Your take on my objection is correct.

nether2• 13 years ago

I have to object to The Guardian's use of scare quotes in the title...

I don't think this is scare quotes, more like conservative British journalism that handles any story-relevant term delicately by emphasizing it's a quotation, and not their interpretation. I've seen it lots in the BBC: https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&authuser=0...

'emits flammable gas'

'played dead'

'bad habits'

jlgreco11• 13 years ago

Ah okay, that makes more sense. I tentatively revoke my criticism of the author and/or editor if that's what is going on here.

baddox• 13 years ago

That seems to be the case here, although it's slightly more confusing (to me, an American reader) when it's only a single word in quotation marks.

nkoren• 13 years ago

You're absolutely correct -- "scare quotes" are an element of American English, not British English. In this context, they're simply indicative of the fact that somebody (not the paper) has called these workers "slaves".

Two countries divided by a common language, as they say. When I moved to the UK from America, this was admittedly one of the more confusing points of differentiation for me.

shardling• 13 years ago

I have to object to The Guardian's use of scare quotes in the title...

I've noticed it's quite standard in English publications to use quotes around allegations, even if no one really believes the other side.

Not sure if this is just custom, or something to do with the stricter libel laws...

e: Here is a post on the language log that goes into the matter. (Make sure to read the comments.)

http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1017

Comment from a headline writer: http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1017#comment-18782

joonix• 13 years ago

I lived and worked in Qatar and none of this is new to me. These people are treated in horrible conditions and I don't think Qataris have a second thought about it. They genuinely believe they are superior people and are permitted to do this to those lower than them (I am generalizing, yes, there are some good people there, but this is the most pervasive mindset. Just look up horror stories of how Filipina maids are treated in Qatari households. Rape victimes are at the Philippines embassy there every day trying to get help).

It was a really terrible place, don't be seduced by the media coverage gushing about their wealth. It's very easy to be

This is a government that charges fines from their red light cameras in excess of a year of a laborer's salary. They then require an "exit visa" to depart the country, and you can't get the exit visa until all your debts are paid, and your employer gives you one. I knew of Sri Lankan cab drivers who were trapped for years in Qatar trying to pay off their fines so they could leave.

Even as a professional American your employer can abuse you if they feel like it thanks to the "exit visa" requirement. Oh, you're quitting? Fine, I'll keep your last paycheck, here's your exit visa. Nobody should take a country that has an "exit visa" requirement seriously! I could not deal with the pressure of my freedom literally being in my employers hands. I did not last there very long in this environment, I am never going back to that hellhole.

yapcguy5• 13 years ago

Thank you for sharing your experience. I wonder how many expats would be in Qatar or Dubai in the first place if it weren't for the 0% income tax.

Speaking of Dubai...

"Norwegian woman sentenced to prison in Dubai for the crime of unlawful sex with her alleged rapist"

"Australian Alicia Gali reported being brutally raped while working at a hotel in the Unite Arab Emirates 2008, spent eight months in a fetid and overcrowded jail cell after (she says) being tricked into signing a confession."

http://www.newstatesman.com/middle-east/2013/07/shocking-cas...

w1ntermute• 13 years ago

This is one of the biggest reasons I can't wait for alternative energy sources to become more prevalent. The Middle East will sink back into irrelevance.

chrischen• 13 years ago

Is there a term for these types of countries that are not very developed, but have a lot of wealth (through oil, or other means)?

yalogin• 13 years ago

I don't think its scare tactics at all. All of middle east is like this. Saudi Arabia, Dubai everywhere they need workers for construction or such. They "import" workers from Bangaldesh, India, Pakistan etc, take their passport away and make them live and work in horrible conditions. Many people die or commit suicide too.

icecreampain• 13 years ago

This is shocking... how? The arab empire was built on the slave trade. The whole of Dubai exists solely due to external workers, from engineers to the bricklayers.

This should not shock anyone.

gdilla• 13 years ago

Uh, it's still wrong. That's the point.

jlgreco11• 13 years ago

Something that is shocking is not necessarily surprising. "Shocking" in this case is more about the visceral reaction of disgust it causes.

bsullivan014• 13 years ago

The whole of Dubai exists solely due to external workers, from engineers to the bricklayers.

External workers are fine since workers are different from slaves or "slaves". If they paid me $150K a year, I'd go there and lay bricks myself and for $1000 a month they'd get probably a billion applications. What they did is they screwed the poor Indians, Bangladeshis, Filipinos etc, once they got there.

at-fates-hands• 13 years ago

The only shocking thing is how we in the US put up with this behavior from governments we send billions in aid to every year. You'd think we'd have the balls to suspend some their aid and have them put an end to this type of abuse.

ihsw3• 13 years ago

How is that the US' responsibility? It has nothing to do with balls at all, either.

If you think the US has any interest in exerting its economic or military power in the interest of morals and ethics then I've got a bridge to sell you.

agilebyte• 13 years ago

The aid is to get their govt support against war on terror and access to resources no?

Which really shows that we have our priorities set straight too. They are not our people slaving away there, so we turn a blind eye.

umeshunni2• 13 years ago

The US sends billions in aid to Qatar and Dubai? I think what you mean is that these countries buy billions of $ of US weapons every year.

spindritf• 13 years ago

Not 'slaves' but serfs (no quotes necessary). Since we're moving back to feudalism, we should start getting it right.

kvinnako• 13 years ago

I am appalled by the conditions but I don't think any of these articles is going to change a single thing in Qatar. I believe it will continue happening in Qatar. Only way to stop it is educate people from poorer countries to not go there no matter how enticing it seems(just like a mirage).

glesica• 13 years ago

And to stop hosting international events and locating foreign-owned businesses there.

umeshunni2• 13 years ago

Once those people from poorer countries are educated and stop going there, they'll be replaced by people from an even poorer country.

In the early 80s, there were a lot of Korean workers in the Middle East. As the economy in Korea boomed and they had less of a reason to go the Middle East, they were replaced by Indians. As the Indian economy boomed in the 90s/00s, they were replaced by Nepalis, Bangladeshis and others.

vowelless2• 13 years ago

As referenced to in the article and highly relevant, the Kafala System [1] which has roots in Islamic adoption jurisprudence [2].

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kafala_system

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_adoptional_jurisprudenc...

yapcguy5• 13 years ago

Wow, only 6% of the labor force is made up of locals. Basically the Qataris sit back and let workers from the rest of the world do 94% of the country's work. Which begs the question, what exactly do Qataris do all day?!

"Under the state-run kafala sponsorship system, workers are also unable to change jobs or leave the country without their sponsor company's permission." (Guardian)
About 1.2 million foreign workers in Qatar, mostly from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia and the Philippines, make up 94 percent of the labor force. There are nearly five foreign workers for each Qatari citizen, mostly housemaids and low-skilled workers. (Link 1 above)

Samuel_Michon• 13 years ago

As is the case in all the Persian Gulf oil states. You didn’t think the sheikhs themselves would get their hands dirty, did you? They’ve got Pakistanis for that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking_in_Pakistan#A...

mratzloff• 13 years ago

Which begs the question, what exactly do Qataris do all day?!

Get paid by the government.

DominikR• 13 years ago

Which begs the question, what exactly do Qataris do all day?!

Raping or torturing their house maids/slaves.

tinyProton• 13 years ago

Even though these two share the same Arabic noun: 'kafala', they actually refers to two totally different things. One refers to the migrant laborers monitoring system, while the other refers to the Islamic view of child adoption. Don't mix them up. The 'kafala' system has no relation (or share roots) with the meaning of 'kafala' in Islam. It's nothing but a name of the legislation of migrant laborers.

saljam• 13 years ago

That's incorrect. The word kafalah roughly translates to sponsorship. Migrant worker sponsorship and adoption have nothing to do with each other.

morgante5• 13 years ago

As someone who lives in the Emirates, I have to object to the allegation of "slaves." This is not slavery. It's indentured servitude, which is definitely distressing but not quite of the same character.

Most importantly, in the talks I've had with workers, the vast majority of them still are happy to have these jobs despite the conditions. They're paid an order of magnitude more than they make in Nepal and if you go to poor Nepalese villages you'll see entire families building new houses based on earnings from sons who went to work in the gulf.

Finally, it's important to note that there's pretty drastic variation in how workers are treated in different firms. Certainly none have ideal working conditions, but the majority are legal and passable. It's the truly horrible ones which actually trigger government investigations (and, sadly enough, many of the worst firms are actually run by overseas businessmen.).

drzaiusapelord• 13 years ago

This is not slavery. It's indentured servitude

Considering wages are being held and passports are taken, I'd say the use of the word slave is justified.

Most importantly, in the talks I've had with workers, the vast majority of them still are happy to have these jobs despite the conditions.

Survivor bias. The ones who haven't been killed or run away like working there (or are too scared to tell you otherwise).

ihsw3• 13 years ago

Considering wages are being held and passports are taken, I'd say the use of the word slave is justified.

Slavery has a very unambiguous definition -- people are treated as property where they're traded and sold, and forced to work. If passports are being collected and passed around in a slavery market then I'd agree with you, but as it stands there is no such evidence of that.

cshenoy• 13 years ago

Indentured servitude is debt bondage made explicitly so (contractually). When a worker says, "we were compelled to come just to make a living, but we've had no luck", that seems like they've been tricked into working as indentured servants without prior knowledge.

notahacker• 13 years ago

I think pretty much all of them are well aware that the cost of flying them to the Gulf far exceeds their savings and they won't have the funds to fly back of their own accord before their contract is up. It's not one of these trafficking situations where they've been told they've been found a nice domestic service job in the capital and they subsequently end up in an underground brothel in another country.

They have good reason to expect to have access to food and their post-deduction wages though.

morgante5• 13 years ago

Not at all. Almost none of them have enough to pay their recruitment or travel fees, so they fully understand that for a time all their wages will go towards that.

I fail to see how retaining pay until a hiring debt is paid off isn't the very definition of indentured servitude.

koenigdavidmj• 13 years ago

The article is talking about their not being paid, which means we're back into slavery again. Indentured servitude is also banned in the civilised world, so that's probably not a good way to defend yourself.

cturner• 13 years ago

Do you think they'd be paid in full at the end of their period? From the pattern of treatment described in the article, I'd expect it's common for them to be left unpaid or underpaid at the close.

morgante5• 13 years ago

I'd expect it's common for them to be left unpaid or underpaid at the close.

Unpaid, no. It's extremely rare for an employer to not pay anything ever. Underpaid, definitely—between extra "fees" and deductions, many workers end up with less than they expected (but still more than they'd make back home).

contingencies3• 13 years ago

For a mere 20 year old, you sure speak with advanced lashings of ponce and confidence on subjects of which you know not.

morgante5• 13 years ago

For a mere 20 year old, you sure speak with advanced lashings of ponce and confidence on subjects of which you know not.

Having lived in the gulf and thoroughly read the human rights reports in the region, I'd wager I know a lot more about the situation than most HN commenters. But sure, go ahead an attack my age. Everyone knows ad hominem attacks are the best kind.

bjhoops12• 13 years ago

Terrible. This reminds me of what was going on in Saipan 20 years ago. A paradise of conservative/libertarian economic governance that Jack Abramoff and Tom Delay worked so hard to protect from the horrors of organized labor and worker's rights.

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/18/world/made-usa-hard-labor-...

wooter3• 13 years ago

hold up. in no way is/was Saipan a paradise of libertarian economic governance. From your article: "If we complain, then our bosses would send us back to China and take away all of our money. Our families need the money."

No libertarian I know, me included, would object to (rather, we would support) massive penalties for any entity that engaged in such behavior.

Additionally, Jack Abramoff and Tom Delay are the exact opposite of anything/anyone a libertarian would endorse.

I really encourage you to learn about Libertarianism because if you really believe Saipan 20 years ago was a "paradise of libertarian economic governance" you are farrrr off the mark.

Synaesthesia• 13 years ago

I think the "paradise of libertarian economic governance" was sarcasm

bjhoops12• 13 years ago

And how do you imagine these "massive penalties" would be enforced? Perhaps by government regulation? Can't recall the last time I heard a Libertarian talk about a lack of that, or say anything favorable about labor unions. I think a lot of Libertarians think of Libertarianism as economic Conservatism, except it all works out magically because Free Markets and legal marijuana! Both sides tend to have an misplaced trust in the free markets to solve problems, and have a knee-jerk reaction against any increase in the size of Big Government, new regulations or labor union-strengthening measures.

I've been both a conservative and libertarian myself in the past, and I would agree that these outcomes are not considered desirable by adherents of those viewpoints, but unfortunately this sort of thing is very often the result of the policies and philosophy they thought would make everyone's lives better.

My two cents. Or if I'm more honest, Thomas Frank's two cents. http://www.amazon.com/The-Wrecking-Crew-Conservatives-Govern... Good read, that.

suhailpatel• 13 years ago

A very similar article was written 4 years ago in The Independent about Dubai and as far as I know nothing has changed. Definitely worth a read to find out about a very similar culture of modern day slavery

'The Dark Side of Dubai': http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/johann-hari...

shalmanese• 13 years ago

Some expats have raised doubts over this article: http://www.thenational.ae/business/media/expat-takes-uk-jour...

bayesianhorse2• 13 years ago

One of the appalling details is that these abuses to the individual don't make a dent in anyone's profit. Really, how many workers do you have to deny water to, in order to make up for even one worker's salary?

I allege that this is actually a symptom of corruption. Starting with poor labor laws at the top, down to poor enforcement of probably already poor corporate policies on the ground.

I don't really believe that this situation is even to the best interest of the companies (excepting maybe the slave driving contractors on the bottom).

pbhjpbhj• 13 years ago

If FIFA had any moral fortitude then they would cancel the event - if independent parties can verify the allegations and there is any evidence that the government have not been acting to the best of it's abilities to prevent such actions.

It seems FIFA care nothing about football except that it's an opportunity for the rich to line their pockets.

If FIFA don't act then governments in countries where FIFA operate should be shutting them down and disbarring all directors for supporting wide-scale illegal and immoral activity against human beings.

Even one confirmed case of a worker being unfairly denied their entire wage (without the government moving to correct the injustice), never mind being denied water or freedom from physical abuse or having their passport unjustly confiscated and they should just revert to the runner up country.

That would be fair play.¹

1 - http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/socialresponsibility/fairplay/...

rayiner3• 13 years ago

It pains me that the U.S. has absolutely no balls to stand up to the Middle Eastern sheikdoms. And American businessmen are slobbering like puppies trying to get a slice of that oil capital. It's all quite disgusting really.

peter_l_downs• 13 years ago

Why would the US be involved in this issue? I would think that it's FIFA's fault for choosing the location.

404error2• 13 years ago

IMO you are spot on that its FIFA's fault for choosing the location. The Cup will be moved to the winter and will affect European football due to league play.

The US was runner up and should have been awarded the World Cup in 2022. The 1994 Cup in the US was one of the most, it not the most, profitable World Cup.

The infrastructure is in place in the US to host the World Cup.

Can you imagine what political ramifications there would be if the World Cup hosting rights were taking away from Qatar and awarded to the US.

cabalamat3• 13 years ago

It pains me that the U.S. has absolutely no balls to stand up to the Middle Eastern sheikdoms.

It's not that they haven't the balls, it's that the USG doesn't care about middle eastern (or anywhere else) countries having a poor human rights record, so long as those countries support US foreign policy.

So for example, the USG has been a lot more vocal about human rights abuses in Syria and Iran (enemies of USA) than Bahrain and Saudi (allies).

derleth4• 13 years ago

Do you want the US to invade Qatar? Maybe establish a puppet government? Or just invade, leave, and see what happens?

derleth4• 13 years ago

So, do you want a replay of Iraq or a replay of Vietnam?

rayiner3• 13 years ago

Iran. Crippling economic sanctions and concerted isolation.

yohann305• 13 years ago

How can someone enjoy a soccer match knowing it is happening on a field stained by the blood of modern-day slaves.

I WON'T. WILL YOU?

linux_devil• 13 years ago

Can't imagine to walk in their shoes. This is a crime and serious human right violation. Wonder if embassy of small country not able to take action against contractors?

philwelch2• 13 years ago

Qatar's 2022 World Cup is a major controversy even outside of this. FIFA accepts World Cup bids mainly on the basis of bribery, but Qatar was a bridge too far. The country is so unsuitable to host a World Cup while simultaneously being so full of money that's being spent chasing prestige that it's completely blatant what really happened there.

The temperature is over 100 in the summer, so even with massive air conditioned stadiums they're not sure how to build yet, it's going to be a miserable experience for fans. If they move it to the winter, that means either January/February (which conflicts with the Winter Olympics and, in the US, the NFL postseason, leaving FOX aggrieved that their World Cup broadcasting rights are essentially worthless) or November/December (which conflicts with club football in England, particularly the traditional Boxing Day fixtures). Australia, one of the other countries that bid for 2022, is threatening to sue FIFA if they move the tournament to winter on the grounds that they bid for a summer tournament. The USA also had a very strong 2022 bid. Qatar, like Russia (who will host the 2018 World Cup) also has laws against homosexuality. The Russia bid, by the way, won against an England bid, and while it's more defensible than Qatar, it also smells of bribery and does more to motivate England in particular against FIFA's handling of the next two World Cup bidding processes.

With all that in context, this frankly isn't news. Qatar, like Dubai, is notorious for its treatment of migrant construction labor. But stories like this serve a PR purpose for the multitudes of parties aggrieved by FIFA, all of whom have money on the line.

tantalor3• 13 years ago

Do the terms "winter" and "summer" in this context only refer to the northern hemisphere? Was Australia's "summer" bid to place the tournament in their winter? Presumably they have better weather in the winter.

jowiar• 13 years ago

Much of Australia is reasonably temperate. July in Sydney or Melbourne is in the 40s-50s Fahrenheit, which, while chilly, is both comparable to the climate for a large portion of the club season in Europe and vastly better than 100-ish for a sport that combines endurance running with interval sprints.

wh0car3s• 13 years ago

Yep, it is based on the northern hemisphere. Generally, the football season starts from Aug to May (in Europe) so the WC is usually held on June-July.

AFAIK, Australia's bid was for June-July 2022 and if FIFA changes the date, there is talk that Football Federation Australia will ask for recompense on their bid < http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/17/world-cup-20... >.

yapcguy5• 13 years ago

I think this is new to many people and thus well worth reporting.

Also, homosexuality was decriminalised in Russia in 1993. The recent law bans distributing material about non-traditional sexual relations to minors. It does not make it illegal to be gay in Russia.

Contrast this to Qatar where it is illegal to be a male and homosexual - the punishment being a couple of years in prison and public lashing.

awda• 13 years ago

Yeah, it's not illegal, just totally unsafe due to vigilante mobs enforcing perceived societal values. TOTALLY different. </sarcasm>

Relative to each other, maybe it's better for gays in Russia than Qatar. But they're both pretty fucking awful compared to the rest of the world.

adwf2• 13 years ago

Yes, so much corruption went on with that particular round of World Cup bidding.

For example: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment...

The disturbing thing is that everyone knew that was only the tip of the iceberg, but they still didn't even mention revoking the World Cup allocation and having a second vote. Just kicked a couple of members of the committee out and then went on with business as usual.

jcdavis• 13 years ago

As someone who spent 4 months in Qatar several years ago, I am unfortunately confirm the pathetic treatment of foreign physical laborers there.

As an example, one thing all the malls there do is "family day": the idea in theory being that it's then to make Muslim women feel more comfortable. Turns out in practice though, a decently dressed Arab male can go in, as can a white male. "Family day" is really "no laborers at the mall day", and it just so happens to be on the one day most workers get off

bernardom• 13 years ago

"Revealed?"

Where have you been? How is this news?

susi22• 13 years ago

I'm glad this is getting attention. I was in Germany in July and watched a ~1h documentary about the working conditions there. Confirming what is written in the Guardian. The image I saw in the documentary were extreme. No access to clean water, no access to working bath rooms, no paying. They're also lured into coming there being promised a better life and once they're there they realize it but it's too late.

There has also been a report on it in March from Spiegel:

http://www.spiegel.de/sport/fussball/wm-2022-internationaler...

I usually dont' quote BILD, but they say the workers get paid ~0.78 Cent (EUR) an hour:

http://www.bild.de/sport/fussball/wm/arbeiter-werden-wie-skl...

No air conditioning when it's often over 50 deg. celsius (~122 Fahrenheit). This could explain the many hear failures noted in the article.

alexeisadeski3• 13 years ago

Hey, different strokes for different folks.

andrewtbham• 13 years ago

This seems off topic to me and I don't feel like it follows the guidelines.

http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

The thing I that bothers me is I get sucked into these off topics sensational stories.

iluvuspartacus• 13 years ago

There is always the possibility of a fourth Punic war...

KVFinn• 13 years ago

If you've ever wondered to what degree bribes influence World Cup selection, to find a worse location than Qatar you would almost have to put the World Cup in Antarctica or under the ocean.

By just about every measure they considered in every official analysis, Qatar was rated as the worst choice.

Total attendance in South Africa 2010 was 3.1 million. Qatar has a population of 1.9 million.

http://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1kf33g/epl_ceo_joins...

They also promised some magical stadium air conditioning tech because the regular environmental of Qatar would make having a big outdoor tournament impossible. Big surprise, relying on not-yet-invented tech is looking like it won't work and they are already saying they may have to move to the coolest part of the year.

Just one more specific example: FIFA requires there to be 6 different host cities, while Qatar only had three. They got around this by saying they would 'build' four new cities in time for the World Cup.

It's a travesty.

arjn• 13 years ago

None of this is new. There have been plenty of articles describing how expat laborers are treated in some of these Middle Eastern countries. I have family who live and work in Dubai (very near Qatar) and Ive visited a few times. Here are some of the things I've heard :

- Workers having their passports taken away so they can't leave. This is very common.

- Not being paid wages they were promised.

- Beatings and general mistreatment.

- Being made to work in extreme temperatures.

- Authorities under-reporting weather temperatures so workers cannot stop working.

- Getting thrown out of the country and/or being threatened if any complaints are made.

- Housemaids from India,Sri Lanka,Phillipines,Bangladesh etc being assaulted, beaten and sexually molested. This is shockingly common.

- Large numbers of women (girls) from Slavic and East Asian countries being imported/traded/bartered as sex workers.

- Basically - if you're brown-skinned and not a local you're like a 3rd class citizen.

wehadfun• 13 years ago

Why hasn't Nepal rescued its country men from this?

everest812• 13 years ago

no one cares, its a corrupt government where everyone is looking out to make money at every level.

everest812• 13 years ago

Some perspective from Nepali side, even though I don't reside there now I go back quite often. Airport in Nepal has separate line/queue for emigration for these workers going to arab countries like Qatar. Every day 100s of such workers emigrate out of Nepal, all carrying dream of earning a decent living and sending money back for family. As much as it pains me to say this, some of those workers have no better option in Nepal. In my village itself, I've seen hoards of supposed lower caste people make a better living for themselves because of earnings/money sent back by their sons/husbands from Qatar and other countries. They were neglected by upper caste/government before and now they are neglected by another country. Problem lies with Nepal, the government more than anything. Everyone who aspires to go abroad thinks or believes it won't happen to them, but they don't know the bad conditions waiting for them until they leave. And as the article states, in most cases they take loans, sell farmland(if they've any) and build up a sizable debt before setting food abroad. What can be done to help the situation? Fixing problems from Nepali side aside, it would help if Fifa would strip Qatar of the WC all together, but not likely as they were bribed in first place anyways. It would also help if bigger entities(US, UK) put pressure on Fifa in the regards.

contingencies3• 13 years ago

Agreed. FIFA is unlikely to suddenly change though: it, like the numerous ultra-conservative non-state totalitarian oil-fuelled sheikhdom-hells of the Middle East, is like the rest of the mass media entertainment industry merely a symptom of the real problem, which is global capitalism. The US and Europe benefit too much to make any concrete change. They're all hypocrites. We have to make change ourselves by supporting one another.

mas644• 13 years ago

As somebody who spent a few years in Saudi Arabia (as well as visiting some of its fellow oil rich neighbors)...I can confirm this problem which is endemic to all rich Middle Eastern countries. As an American of Indian ethnicity (I can speak Hindi), I was able to see how people from these countries treat folks from the Indian subcontinent.

They're all basically nouveau-riche. They bring in what is slave labor/indentured servitude from poorer countries like Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, the Philippines, etc. They clean the toilets, they serve the food at McDonalds, they build every house and skyscraper, the work the oil fields...in other words all the dirty jobs. Likewise people from western countries are brought into do the white collar work -- doctors, engineers, architects, etc....though they're having a blast.

I would say the situation is analogous to illegal immigrants from Mexico in the US -- but believe it or not we're way way way way way nicer to our illegal immigrants than these countries are to their legal immigrants! They live in terrible and barbaric conditions very similar to those described in the article. What makes it all so horrid is the disparity in wealth between the way they live and the way the elites live. If you're in Dubai, you can go snowboarding on a ski slope inside a shopping mall -- built by some guy who's in the outskirts of the city, sleeping in a hot tin can with 12 other guys, a broken AC, completely sore body, and sun burnt skin. You'll sometimes see Arab guys screaming at/assaulting these people at stores, shops, or taxis as if they're feudal lords talking to their peasants.

My father calls these immigrants heroes. They take shit (physically, verbally, mentally) you and I could not imagine just to send back the equivalent of $100-$200 a month to their families back home. That small amount of money enables them to educate their kids, feed their family, build homes, businesses, etc. They dream of the day they get to return home and finally see their families again.

beloch2• 13 years ago

Qatar is right next to the UAE, both geographically and in terms of their treatment of foreign laborers. When somebody I know mentions they are considering working or vacationing in Dubai, I make a point of mentioning how those gleaming towers were built. Now I get to complain about Qatar whenever the world cup comes up in conversation. Gee, that ought to make me popular!

The UAE and Qatar are both countries awash in oil money who are trying to buy their way out of their uncivilized reputations. Surprisingly, it's working. People are attracted by the gleaming steel and concrete that makes places like Dubai seem like they're from the future. Working there (in white collar jobs) also appeals because the average engineer can afford servants! Although it may feel boorish, pointing out the true nature of the foundations these places are built upon is the only way to prevent more cities just like them from popping up wherever there is money right next to poverty.

curiousDog• 13 years ago

I'm not sure why you're being downvoted. What you say is a 100% true. After watching how a laborer was treated in Dubai, I refuse to fly Emirates, Qatar, Etihad or any middle eastern airline. And I hope I never have to set foot in these atrocious places for the rest of my life.

beloch2• 13 years ago

People from the Emirates, Etihad, or Qatar, and those who have vacationed/worked there also visit this board, and are no doubt not happy about this being pointed out. Even just visiting a place makes you feel connected to it, and angry when something like this is pointed out. Like I said, I don't expect saying things like this to make me popular. Still, the more people are willing to be unpopular, the more chance there is for change.

Fando• 13 years ago

The richest people are refusing to pay for labor, enslaving human beings instead - insanity.

Revealed: Qatar's World Cup 'slaves'

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