PanamaTimes

Thursday, Jul 10, 2025

Qatar World Cup migrant workers left mired in debt, Human Right Watch says

Qatar World Cup migrant workers left mired in debt, Human Right Watch says

Qatari firms accused of complicity as families of dead workers are left in penury
Migrant workers who helped build the infrastructure for Qatar to host the upcoming football World Cup have been left mired in debt because of the extortionate recruitment fees charged by agents, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.

Over the past 12 months, the nongovernmental organization interviewed dozens of migrant workers from Bangladesh, India, Kenya and Nepal, including the families of seven who are now dead.

Many said they had been forced into debt bondage — a form of forced labor recognized under international law — and were unable to leave their jobs, making them more vulnerable to abuse. Others said they had used up all of their savings and even sold family assets to meet the repayments on the fees charged by their recruiters.

In some instances, the families of workers who died in Qatar said they had been left to deal with the aftermath.

Bulani Sahani, the father of a migrant worker from Nepal who died in Qatar earlier this year, said he was struggling to provide for his grandchildren because of the debts his son had incurred.

“My son went (to Qatar) after borrowing money (more than $1,100) from many villagers,” he said.

“Now everyone keeps asking for it. They say that I must have received compensation for my son’s death, but I haven’t received a single rupee. How will I repay them? I don’t even have land to sell to pay them.”

Several investigations, including ones conducted on behalf of Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy — the body responsible for creating the infrastructure needed to host the Word Cup — have revealed the pervasiveness of recruitment fees that can take months, if not years, to repay.

The 10 people interviewed by Human Rights Watch who had paid off their debts said it took them between four months and two years.

While the problem of high recruitment fees lay partially with companies in the workers’ home countries, the report said that businesses based in Qatar were complicit as they had imposed costs on recruiters that they knew would be passed on to the workers.

Because of Qatari firms’ lack of oversight, some unscrupulous recruiters had been able to “double dip,” charging both employers and migrant workers, it said.

While Qatari authorities had earlier claimed that the problem of exorbitant recruitment fees fell outside their jurisdiction, Human Rights Watch accused them of failing to tackle the issue.

It said also that FIFA — football’s governing body — and Qatari authorities had yet to commit to establishing a compensation fund for serious abuses of migrant workers.

“With 30 days left until the tournament, there is a slim window for FIFA and Qatari authorities to correct course and commit to remedying past abuses that have stained the 2022 World Cup,” said Michael Page, HRW’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“Unless FIFA and Qatar act, then the real ‘legacy’ of this tournament will be how FIFA, Qatar and anyone profiting from this World Cup left families of thousands of migrant workers indebted after they died and left many migrant workers who had their wages stolen uncompensated.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

PanamaTimes
0:00
0:00
Close
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
OpenAI Secures Multimillion-Dollar AI Contracts with Pentagon, India, and Grab
Brazilian Congress Rejects Lula's Proposed Tax Increase on Financial Transactions
Landslide in Bello, Colombia, Results in Multiple Casualties
Papa Johns pizza surge near the Pentagon tipped off social media before Trump's decisive Iran strike
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
Minnesota Lawmaker Melissa Hortman and Husband Killed in Targeted Attack; Senator John Hoffman and Wife Injured
Wreck of $17 Billion San José Galleon Identified Off Colombia After 300 Years
Sole Survivor of Air India Crash Recounts Escape
Coinbase CEO Warns Bitcoin Could Supplant US Dollar Amid Mounting National Debt
UK and EU Reach Agreement on Gibraltar's Schengen Integration
Israeli Finance Minister Imposes Banking Penalties on Palestinians
U.S. Inflation Rises to 2.4% in May Amid Trade Tensions
Trump's Policies Prompt Decline in Chinese Student Enrollment in U.S.
Global Oceans Near Record Temperatures as CO₂ Levels Climb
Trump Announces U.S.-China Trade Deal Covering Rare Earths
Smuggled U.S. Fuel Funds Mexican Cartels Amid Crackdown
Protests Erupt in Los Angeles with Symbolic Flag Burning
Trump Administration Issues New Travel Ban Targeting 12 Countries
Man Group Mandates Full-Time Office Return for Quantitative Analysts
JPMorgan Warns Analysts Against Accepting Future-Dated Job Offers
Builder.ai Faces Legal Scrutiny Amid Financial Misreporting Allegations
Japan Grapples with Rice Shortage Amid Soaring Prices
Goldman Sachs Reduces Risk Exposure Amid Market Volatility
HSBC Chairman Mark Tucker to Return to AIA as Non-Executive Chair
Israel Confirms Arming Gaza Clan to Counter Hamas Influence
Judge Blocks Trump's Ban on International Students at Harvard
Trump Proposes Travel Ban on 'Uncontrolled' Countries
Panama Port Owner Balances US-China Pressures
Trump Administration Accused of Obstructing Deportation Cases
Trump’s China Strategy Remains a Geopolitical Puzzle
Eurozone Inflation Falls Below ECB Target to 1.9%
Call for a New Chapter in Globalisation Emerges
Blackstone and Rivals Diverge on Private Equity Strategy
Mayor’s Security Officer Implicated | Shocking New Details Emerge in NYC Kidnapping Case
Bangkok Ranked World's Top City for Remote Work in 2025
Denmark Increases Retirement Age to 70, Setting a European Precedent
Netanyahu Accuses Western Leaders of 'Emboldening Hamas'
Escalating Trade Tensions and Market Reactions
OnlyFans Reportedly in Talks for $8 Billion Sale
JBS Gains Shareholder Approval for U.S. Stock Listing
Booz Allen Hamilton to Cut 2,500 Jobs Amid Federal Spending Reductions
Trump Signs Executive Orders to Accelerate Nuclear Energy Development
Harvard Temporarily Blocks Trump Administration's International Student Ban
Nippon Steel Forms Partnership with U.S. Steel, Headquarters to Remain in Pittsburgh
Trump Expands Tariff Threats to Apple and Samsung Devices
Oracle and OpenAI Plan $40 Billion Nvidia Chip Purchase for AI Data Center
×