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Human Rights Watch is currently preparing a report on the conditions of migrant workers in
Qatar’s construction industry, in light of the extensive construction needed to provide facilities
and infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup. We have enclosed a summary of relevant research
findings from our upcoming report for your reference. Our research examined the construction
industry as a whole and found that abusive practices of the kind we have documented
elsewhere in the Gulf are also prevalent in Qatar. As described in the enclosed summary, we
found that key factors trap migrant workers in Qatar in exploitative jobs: the exorbitant
recruitment fees that nearly all of the workers we interviewed had paid in order to obtain their
jobs; and the restrictive kafala (sponsorship) system that prevents workers from changing jobs
or leaving the country without a sponsoring employer’s permission. In addition, there is an
inadequate legal and regulatory framework to protect workers’ rights. Most notably, Qatari law
prohibits migrant workers from forming trade unions, in violation of these workers’ rights to
freedom of association and collective bargaining, and the government fails to enforce
adequately current laws that, at least on paper, are meant to protect worker rights. In some
cases, the exploitation and coercive circumstances in which workers found themselves
amounted to conditions of forced labor or human trafficking, as defined under international law.
We are aware that the Aspire Zone is home to Al Khalifa International Stadium, a proposed site
for World Cup matches included in Qatar’s winning bid. We note that, as described on the
company’s website, Aspire Logistics is “responsible for supporting the activities of Aspire Zone
by…building, operating and managing high quality international standard sport facilities,” as
per your website, and that Emiri Decree number 1 for the year 2008 designated Aspire Logistics
“the custodian company of the sports precinct.” We therefore wish to draw your attention to the
fact that we interviewed construction workers working at the Aspire Zone who alleged that their
rights were not respected. The workers we interviewed at the Aspire Zone did not claim to be in
the employ of Aspire Logistics and asked us not to identify their employer for fear of reprisal.
We cite the workers’ interviews in our forthcoming report as illustrative of the issues that arise
in the construction sector in Qatar, including in connection with World Cup-related work sites.
In this case, we interviewed construction workers we met at the Aspire Zone during our June
2011 visit to Qatar, including a group of seven Nepali workers who said that their employer had
not paid them for three and a half months, and that they wanted to return home to Nepal. They
said that their sponsoring employer demanded money in exchange for granting them
permission to leave, and that because he held their passports, they were reluctant to quit and
attempt to return home. All of the workers had paid recruitment fees, and none had their
passports, though they said they had asked their employer to return these documents.
135 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | JUNE 2012