Nepal raps Qatar over migrant construction workers

Nepal has criticized Qatar for depriving the Nepalese construction workers in the Arab country of the right to return to their home country and attend the funeral ceremony of those of their relatives who have died in a recent earthquake in the Himalayan state.

Tek Bahadur Gurung, Nepal’s labor minister, reprimanded Qatar for the conditions of the Nepali workers in the Arab country and Doha’s refusal to allow the migrants to return home, The Guardian reported on Sunday.

As many as 1.5 million migrant workers have been employed in Qatar to prepare venues for the 2022 World Cup in the Persian Gulf state. Around 400,000 of the workers are from Nepal and the others are mainly from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

“After the earthquake of 25 April, we requested all companies in Qatar to give their Nepalese workers special leave and pay for their air fare home. While workers in some sectors of the economy have been given this, those on World Cup construction sites are not being allowed to leave because of the pressure to complete projects on time,” the minister said.

Disaster in Nepal

On April 25, a tremor measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale hit Nepal, killing thousands and destroying over half a million homes, making it the country’s deadliest quake in more than 80 years. On May 12, a second 7.3-magnitude temblor also struck the Himalayan country, claiming the lives of dozens and triggering landslides in the affected areas.

According to the latest figures released by Nepal’s Home Ministry, the death toll from the two quakes currently stands at 8,583.

Gurung, the Nepalese minister, said, “There are far more than 500 Nepalese working on different World Cup construction sites, I can assure you. We have even offered to pay the air fare home for all our people building stadiums and involved in other projects, where companies are not willing, but not even this has made a difference. Our embassy in Doha has been inundated with requests for help from World Cup workers who are not allowed to leave.”

“They have lost relatives and their homes, and are enduring very difficult conditions in Qatar. This is adding to their suffering,” the Nepalese labor minister said.

He further called on the international soccer governing body FIFA to take stronger measures to improve the situation of the migrants working in Qatar to prepare sites for the World Cup.

The minister reportedly plans to officially visit Qatar next month for discussions on the condition of the migrant workers in the Arab country.

Last year, it was reported that Nepalese migrants building Qatar’s infrastructure to host the 2022 World Cup had died at a rate of one every two days in 2014 – despite Qatar’s promises to improve their working conditions.

“Things are very difficult for the Nepalese and other workers in Qatar, but we have to help them and cannot stay silent any longer,” Gurung added.

Doha is also under criticism over its controversial “kafala” system, which has widely been censured as modern-day slavery. Under the system, employers in the kingdom can prevent its mostly foreign-based labor force from changing jobs or even leaving the country.

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