It's no.
Qatar is rejecting calls from NGOs for the creation of a compensation fund for migrant workers killed or injured on construction sites for the soccer World Cup in the wealthy Gulf country, its labor minister has told reporters. AFP.
In an exclusive interview, Ali Ben Samikh Al-Marri qualifies these calls from NGOs as a “communication coup”.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are leading a campaign to obtain compensation for workers who suffered "abuse" (deaths, injuries, unpaid wages, etc.) from world football's governing body, Fifa, and the host country of the 2022 World Cup, which begins on November 20.
“Where are the victims?
»
“Each death is a tragedy (but) there are no criteria for establishing this fund” of compensation, advances the minister.
“Where are the victims?
Do you have the names?
“, he asks.
The Minister recalled that his country had set up a compensation fund in 2018 for workers who do not receive their wages, putting forward the figure of 320 million euros paid in 2022 alone. “If a person entitled to compensation has not been received, let her come forward and we will help her,” he insisted, adding that Qatar is ready to look into cases dating back more than a decade.
As criticism intensifies as the event approaches, organizations and countries are trying to "discredit Qatar with deliberately misleading claims", Ali Ben Samikh Al-Marri also said.
According to him, some foreign politicians are making the Gulf country "an arena to solve their own political problems".
Criticism “motivated by racism”
These criticisms are sometimes "motivated by racism", he adds.
"They don't want to allow a small country, an Arab country, a Muslim country, to organize the World Cup."
FIFA should set aside a minimum of €420 million to provide reparations to the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who suffered human rights abuses in Qatar during preparations for the 2022 World Cup, Amnesty International wrote in a statement. report released in May.
Ali Ben Samikh Al-Marri said on Wednesday that such a compensation fund was not feasible.
Fifa, for its part, had indicated in mid-October that there was an "ongoing dialogue" for measures in favor of workers on construction sites.