"I think a French person doesn't give a damn there".
Here are the words spoken by Jean-Luc Mélenchon on April 1 on RTL.
"We cannot play football on corpses," continues the leader of La France Insoumise.
If there is a boycott, he will be part of it.
Qatar has come under fire from human rights organizations for its treatment of migrant workers, many of them exploited and working in dangerous conditions, according to these organizations, on construction sites linked to the upcoming FIFA World Cup. world 2022. Last February, The Guardian revealed that more than 6,500 migrant workers had died since the award in 2010 of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
A figure that would be greatly underestimated.
The emirate ensures for its part to have done more than any other country in the region to improve their working conditions.
"We cannot know the exact number of deaths, no autopsy is carried out on the victims," says Sabine Gagnier, advocacy officer for Amnesty France.
"The working conditions on the sites are unworthy", explains Sabine Gagnier, "they work in dangerous conditions and live in unhealthy living conditions in the camps" continues the advocate for Amnesty France.
Sabine Gagnier prefers to speak of “forced labor” than “modern slavery”.
"When they arrive in Qatar, they are very poorly paid, if not paid at all," she says.
The Guardian's revelations about the death toll and the inhumane conditions on the construction sites have prompted some nations to consider the possibility of a boycott, starting with Norway.
The football team appeared on the pitch wearing a T-shirt denouncing the lack of respect for human rights in the emirate.
Germany followed, then the Netherlands and Belgium.
For its part, the French football team "will go to Qatar if it qualifies" for the World-2022, assured the president of the Federation Noël Le Graët, dismissing the hypothesis of a boycott.
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That the 2022 World Cup takes place in Qatar will have served "to highlight a tragedy that was already taking place", announces Sabine Gagnier.
She explains that since 2017, “there have been adoptions of certain worker safety standards”.
"There have been announcements, they must now be followed up", she concludes.