Major hotel brands are failing to ensure migrant workers are not charged extortionate recruitment fees — sometimes as much as a year’s salary — for working at the Qatar World Cup, a new report claims.
There are concerns workers will not be employed long enough during the four-week tournament to avoid being out-of-pocket. It is one of the worst ways migrant workers are exploited by poor labour practices in the country, the report says.
Qatar is heavily reliant on migrant workers and hotel staff are in more demand than ever as the country prepares to welcome more than a million football fans to the tournament in November. Around two million migrant workers already live in the country and the hotel sector is predicted to increase by more than 50 per cent.
The Wake-up Call report, compiled by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, reveals improvements have been made by hotels regarding treatment of migrant workers during the past year but they are no way near enough – and that barely any of the major hotel brands were committed to ensuring migrant workers or their families were properly compensated for abuses.
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'It hurts a lot - the England Women of 1972 achieved something historic, but nobody knows us'12 July, 2022“Research has shown the payment of recruitment fees by migrant workers to be one of the region’s single largest drivers of abuse,” the report states. “Despite prohibition of recruitment fees under Qatari labour law, migrant workers commonly pay the equivalent of up to one year’s salary to secure work – whether formally to hotel brands’ business partners, human resources consultants, or informally to friends and contacts who get them an interview.
“Where companies do not recognise their responsibility to cover these costs, workers lack some of the most basic protections against exploitation and are often left struggling financially; in the worst cases they have been driven to suicide under the pressure of debt and low wages.”
The report reveals that only two of the 14 major hotels – Four Seasons and Radisson – who responded to its survey were “unequivocally committed” to “disclosing information on recruitment risks identified during the preparations for and during the World Cup, including how many workers were discovered to have paid fees, how much they paid and how much was reimbursed within six months of the risks being identified”.
Other major hotel firms who would not commit include Hilton and Marriott. Accor, contracted by World Cup organisers the Supreme Committee to manage serviced apartments during the tournament, said it could not release information relating to workers due to signing a non-disclosure agreement lasting until 2025.
“Ahead of the World Cup recruitment in Qatar has been ramping massively,” said Isobel Archer, Gulf programme manager, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.
“Migrant workers will be the backbone of this tournament; they will play a central role in ensuring Qatar is able to deliver the one million visitors to the World Cup an unforgettable experience. But there remain major concerns which cannot be ignored.”
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