Equidem: Qatar Fails to Pay Wages of Migrant Workers

A report by the Equidem Research and Consulting organization for human rights revealed that many Qatari companies have failed to pay the salaries of low-paid expatriate workers, since the outbreak of Coronavirus. This has left workers destitute and in poverty.

The report, published by the British newspaper "The Guardian", stated that thousands of migrant workers were dismissed, without prior notice, or given reduced wages, unpaid leave, and deprived of the due salary and end-of-service payments.

Equidem's report pointed out that there is "theft of wages" on an unprecedented scale, which renders workers destitute and suffers from food shortages. They are unable to send money to their homeland, even though they work in one of the world's richest countries.

"The lack of legal right to organize or join unions was detrimental and prevented workers from obtaining the right to negotiate with the government and employers on a fair share of the money," said Equidem's director, Mostafa Qadri.

The Business and Human Rights Resource Center also found that 87% of migrant worker rights violations were unpaid or late wages, affecting nearly 12,000 workers since 2016.

It is reported that about two million migrant workers, the majority of them from South Asia, work in Qatar, and most of them work on construction projects related to the 2022 World Cup.